New Orleans sees 40% jump in youth homicides
maylen
NEW ORLEANS (WGNO) — A grim statistic from the Metropolitan Crime Commission shows that a growing number of the city’s homicide victims are people under the age of 18. The numbers show a 40% jump in youth homicides from last year.
“Kenneth, he was the type of person who keeps a smile on your face. He used to play football for the park,” says the mother of Kenneth Johnson, Gia Johnson.
It’s been a little over a month since 18-year-old Kenneth Johnson was killed in the Lower Garden District. His mother still struggling to come to grips with his death.
“I have my breakdowns from time to time, this is something new to me. I can try to comfort everybody else in their time of need, but when it hit home, that’s the part that really hurt,” says Johnson.
Johnson’s murder was another deadly trend affecting the city’s youth. Crime stats show four teens were killed in New Orleans in November alone.
“What we are seeing is juveniles killing and shooting juveniles. It’s not because they are perpetrating an armed robbery or carjacking. They are actually targeting each other,” says Metropolitan Crime Commissioner President Rafael Goyeneche.
18-year-old Khron Williams has been arrested in connection to Johnson’s murder. However, the family says that while they want justice, the violence needs to end.
“We are going to let justice take its toll and do what it does, but we want to give a message of healing as a community, as a whole. Try to figure out how do we collectively play our part to slow this thing down,” says Mike Willis with HOPE Foundation.
The 7th District leads youth homicides with 15 victims. With several of the murders still under investigation, the number of teens killed could continue to climb.
“What happens is, if the perpetrators are not arrested, then the friends or family of the victims are looking to retaliate, and that just fuels the violence that you are seeing,” says Goyeneche.
Goyeneche says a crackdown on truancy violators is one thing that could help, putting young people back in the classroom and out of the line of fire.
