TOLEDO, Ohio — The most recent juvenile homicide victim in Toledo is 16-year-old Justyce Williams who was shot on April 12 at Smith Park in central Toledo and died over the weekend.
Six out of 10 homicide victims so far in 2023 in Toledo have been teenagers between 13 and 17 years old, including Williams. At this time last year, zero homicide victims were minors. By this time in 2021, 10% of homicide victims were minors; and by this time in 2020, 11% of homicide victims were minors.
Compared to year-end numbers from the past three years, 2023 is on track to have more juvenile homicides. In 2022, there were nine total juvenile homicides. In 2021, there were 10; and in 2020, there were nine.
According to the CDC, youth violence is all too common: "Homicide is the third leading cause of death for young people ages 10-24 and the leading cause of death for non-Hispanic Black or African American youth."
The World Health Organization recommends multiple ways to curb youth violence in communities: providing life skills and social development programs for children, teaching positive parenting skills, passing restrictive firearm licensing, community policing and reducing poverty.
Local law enforcement like the Toledo Police Department continue to respond to these violent crimes.
"It's an unfortunate trend that we're seeing in our country, just the amount of mass shootings and there's a ton of trauma associated with it and it's things that affect people's lives and it's horrible," TPD LT. Michael Kurjan said.
WHO also said it's critical to focus on and make improvements in how quickly victims of gun violence can be treated at the hospital because it can greatly reduce the amount of death resulting from youth violence.