COLUMBUS, Ohio — This weekend in Columbus, family and friends mourned the loss of a 13-year-old boy. Kamarion Woody was shot and killed on Thursday.
Woody is one of seven homicide victims in the city of Columbus so far in 2024 who are under 18 years old.
There are also 126 victims of felony assault this year who are also under 18.
Police leaders said the department is making progress in combatting teen violence.
“Teen violence is not an easy answer when we talk about it and we talk about it a lot. Very, very intentional about decreasing teen violence and that involves everyone. That involves the community and the community is schools, faith-based solutions, the juvenile justice system, law enforcement parents. It involves all of those members of the community” said Assistant Chief Gregory Bodker.
Overall, violence is down in the city compared to a year ago.
CPD has recorded 67 homicides in 2024, compared to 104 by mid-August in 2023.
Nearly 1,100 felony assaults have been reported compared to 1,549 at the same point in 2023.
“Although we do have juvenile crime, we are seeing a significant decrease, which we contribute not only to the hard work of the men and women in blue, but to the community as well. They have stepped up in a way that we cannot even explain how important it is for that collaboration and because of that. Because of the things they are willing to tell us now, we have been able to solve a significant amount of crime as well,” said Chief Elaine Bryant.
Chief Bryant said CPD is finding youth have a lot of access to guns and it is also resulting in accidents. These are reasons she says it is important to continue investing in youth.
That is something Deacon John Ellis is working to do with his program, Josiah Mentoring, at his church New Birth Christian Ministries.
“It is a program to reach out to boys, life skills, spiritual awareness and just spend time with our young people,” he said.
He connects boys ages 9-17 with positive mentors.
“A lot of boys are raised in single parent homes. Homes with all females and they never get a chance to be around adult males,” Deacon Ellis said. “How do you learn how to be a man if you don’t have one to model?”
Through mentorships, the children learn fun new skills like how to deejay or cook, and they also have serious discussions about gun safety and mental health.
“We talk about our emotions a lot how we express our emotions healthy we talk about anger all those types of things to give them skills to handle those things,” he said.
Deacon Ellis said young people need to have “assets," things they care about, to keep up with a productive lifestyle.
“They need to be involved they need a positive adult reinforcing the message hopefully they are getting at home a positive message so a lot of times young people don’t have that,” Deacon Ellis said.