TOLEDO, Ohio — Local families are still grappling with the fact that our community has lost a 10-year-old child to gun violence.
Someone shot and killed Damia Ezell almost three weeks ago when she was riding in the car with her uncle and brother.
It's hard for anyone to understand, but it can hit young people particularly hard.
Diana Patton, an advocate working to help them cope, says it's easy to assume children don't care, or aren't paying attention to traumatic events.
And that's why adults need to listen closely and be there when times are tough.
"I was very, feel very sad for her. She was killed at a really young age. And that shouldn't be okay to do," said London Bryant, a 12-year-old student at Ella P. Stewart Academy for Girls.
The death of 10-year-old Damia Ezell has hit everyone differently.
But 12-year-old London Bryant tries to cope with the loss of someone around her age.
"It's very perplexing. Because actually where the incident took place is right around the corner from where we live," said Jacquelynne Cunningham, who is Bryant's mother.
She says this murder hits close to home and added in the stress of the world right now, and kids are dealing with a lot.
"I knew that she wouldn't necessarily understand because she doesn't really understand about death and the finality of it. So it's just about trying to talk and come down to where she is in understandable language," said Cunningham.
Open dialogue and giving her a safe space to process are key.
That's where Diana Patton comes in.
She's the founder of RISE with Diana and a motivational speaker who talks to students like London at Ella P. Stewart Academy for Girls through what's known as Head Full of Dreams topics.
"Whenever you're trying to help a young person, you have to show that there's trust relationship there. You can't just go in and talk about very difficult circumstances without establishing a trusting relationship," said Patton.
The social justice advocate says you should share your story, listen and resist fixing or judging what they say.
"The worst-case scenario is assuming that young people aren't aware. Young people are so aware today. they have social media. They stay aware of the news. Sometimes they know more about things going on than adults," said Patton.
That includes kids like Bryant who says honest conversations help.
"Tell them what's going on through their lives. Tell what happened or how things are going for them or their parents," said Bryant.
Patton says the best way to start is to just sit down with your child.
Open up and share how something made you feel.
Then create a practice in your home to consistently have an open dialogue.