TOLEDO, Ohio — There were fewer violent crimes in 2023 compared to 2022, Toledo Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz said in a press conference Tuesday.
Five of the six major crime categories tracked by the Toledo Police Department, including homicides, showed decreases, too, with only auto thefts seeing an increase.
But youth homicides, which saw an increase in 2023, were not mentioned in the press conference.
"I didn't mean to not emphasize that," Kapszukiewicz said in response to the increase. "I really did intend to mention that, because it is true."
According to data tracked by WTOL 11, there were 10 homicides with juvenile victims between the ages of 14 and 17 in 2023. An 11th juvenile was also shot by Toledo police after a robbery in April. An 18-year-old and a 19-year-old were also killed in shootings last year.
In 2022, six juveniles were killed in shootings.
"It was a safer year in Toledo in general, but the violence we did see was disproportionately committed by youth," Kapszukiewicz said of 2023. "That is a real part of Toledo's story."
Aviance Hill and Lashawnda Kinnebrew are two leaders of the local anti-gun violence group Sisters 4 Unity. They also are the moms of victims of gun violence. While Hill and Kinnebrew's children were adults when they were killed, their organization works to stop homicides regardless of age.
"It's heart-wrenching, it's heartbreaking and it's traumatic to know that now babies are being un-alived and some of the babies are doing the un-aliving, so we're losing two," Hill said. "We want it all to stop and we're going to do our best to make it all stop."
They work with the city and organizations like Save Our Community to prevent others from experiencing the pain they have.
Youth homicides should be a focal point of reducing gun violence in Toledo, Kinnebrew said.
"I don't think that one should be swept under the rug, we should talk about all of it," she said. "Sometimes just a conversation will change somebody's mindset and you never know."
Kinnebrew said the city plans to keep working to reduce overall homicides and work with youth organizations to decrease the number of those involving juveniles.