TOLEDO, Ohio — Gun violence in the city of Toledo is a topic often revisited by officials and community members through city-organized forums, addresses from grassroots organizations and city council meetings.
Toledo has had six homicides so far in 2023, as of Thursday evening. Half of those deaths are teenagers. The city had 66 homicides in 2022, preceded by a record-high 70 homicides in 2021 and 62 homicides in 2020.
WTOL 11 has compiled a timeline of the homicides so far, and what community members and city leaders have done to help -- and hinder -- the prevention of gun violence in the Glass City.
The city saw its first homicide of 2023 on Jan. 6 with the death of Dontae Hull, who Toledo police said was suspected of burglarizing a home before being shot and later dying in the hospital.
Three days later, on Jan. 9, 15-year-old DeAsia Green was found shot to death in a north Toledo alley. Another teenager is charged with her death and may be tried as an adult.
"My baby, she don't deserve to be in no alley ... we just want justice for her," Green's stepfather, Andre Autman, said at her vigil days after her death. He has also called for the 15-year-old charged with her death to be tried as an adult.
On Jan. 24, city council member George Sarantou tabled a bill to curb gun violence by working with grassroots organizations like the Coalition for Peaceful Toledo Neighborhoods. He said he didn't have the necessary votes to pass the bill that divided some council members over the most effective methods to reduce gun violence.
"It's a real slap in the face" to these community-organized groups, Sarantou said after the council meeting.
The following day, Jan. 25, was a violent one for the Glass City.
A Toledo school bus carrying multiple students was hit by gunfire in the afternoon. No one was injured.
That evening, Toledo police fatally shot and killed 45-year-old Jason Means 22 times outside his home. Police claimed he was armed with a shotgun. Means' wife said he was in the midst of a mental health crisis and urged police to use non-lethal force in a released recording of her 911 call.
Late that night, the city saw its third homicide of 2023: 16-year-old Anthony Krug-Overton was found dead from multiple gunshot wounds just south of the University of Toledo campus on Downing Avenue
On Feb. 3, Toledo saw its fourth homicide and third teen killed. 15-year-old Donald Hogan was shot and killed in south Toledo. His family said it was an accidental shooting and TPD confirmed it was not connected to the homicides of Green or Krug-Overton.
Members of the Coalition for Peaceful Toledo neighborhoods, which includes local leaders including multiple former mayors like Carty Finkbeiner, met with the public after the shooting and demanded city administration take stronger action to reduce gun violence.
"I know they're nice people, but they're not solving violence and crime as the major problem in our city," Finkbeiner said.
The bill Sarantou tabled proposed a stronger partnership with the coalition. Some council members previously expressed opposition to the bill, instead saying the city needs to focus on utilizing groups it has created such as the violence interrupters.
The day after the meeting, on Feb. 5, the city of Toledo announced Deputy Safety Director Angel Tucker, a key leader in the violence interrupter program, had his position terminated as part of a reorganization of the safety department.
On Feb. 7, members of TPD, including interim police chief Mike Troendle, met with members of the Five Points neighborhood to follow up on an area police operation and hear residents' concerns.
"No one should have to live in fear of people driving past your house actively shooting," a neighborhood resident at the meeting, who asked to remain anonymous, said.
As February pressed on, members of the Coalition for Peaceful Toledo Neighborhoods continued to meet with the public.
On Feb. 25, 43-year-old Samuel Gaiter was stabbed to death. His death was later ruled a homicide by a Lucas County coroner.
On Wednesday, the coalition grew after multiple metropolitan Toledo mayors pledged their support to the group.
Each mayor said the health of the Glass City affects everyone in northwest Ohio and from this point forward, they plan to think as a region instead of individual cities.
"We are northwest Ohio, and we should be Toledo, Sylvania, Ottawa Hills, Maumee, Rossford, all in the same boat. How do we pedal as vigorously as we can, onward and upward?" Finkbeiner said.
The mayors emphasized that Toledo and its neighboring cities are intimately tied together.
"A lot of our citizens come down to the baseball game, the hockey game, the museum of art," Tim Pedro, the mayor of Waterville, said. "So, we're part of the community. We're just further down the road, that's all."
Current Toledo Mayor Wade Kapszukiewicz responded to the new additions to the coalition with the following statement:
"I am thrilled that leaders from across the region are coming together to support this important work. Collaboration is key to our success, and I am confident that by working together, we can stop crime in Toledo."