Cincinnati Works: Mentors are Needed as More Kids Keep Getting Shot in Cincinnati

BY MADELINE FENING

After a June 17 shooting in South Fairmount, the total number of kids that have been shot in Cincinnati this year has climbed to 34; more than triple that of 2022.

The shooting happened around 9 p.m. at the 2200 block of Quebec Road, according to the Cincinnati Police Department. Emergency response crews arrived to find a 16-year-old male victim on the ground suffering from a gunshot wound. He was transported to University of Cincinnati Medical Center where he later died from his injuries.

Police said the investigation is ongoing, adding to the growing number of shooting investigations that involve juvenile victims.

Rising numbers

The overall frequency of shootings in the city is actually trending slightly downward compared to recent years, according to CincyInsights. But the age of the victims is skewing dramatically younger.

According to CPD Lt. Jonathan Cunningham, 10 juveniles, or people younger than 18, were shot in all of 2022, but there have been 34 juvenile shooting victims so far in 2023.

Less than one week before the most recent shooting in South Fairmount, two 15-year-olds and one 18-year-old were shot in the same neighborhood on Westwood Avenue in what investigators believe was a drive-by shooting. Of the three people who were shot, two sustained non-life-threatening injuries, but a third was listed as “serious.”

In May, another drive-by shooting happened in broad daylight at Grant Park in Over-the-Rhine, injuring three children, ages 10, 14 and 15, as well as a man in his 20s. Community members have reportedly asked CPD for added police presence at the park after the shooting.

“We don’t have a magic recipe for this, all we can do is keep giving our 110%,” Cunningham told CityBeat during a June 14 interview.

Mitch Morris is trying to keep up with the rising number of children and teens getting shot in Cincinnati.

“Two [shootings] back-to-back about a month ago,” Morris said. “We had two teens shot up here in Winton Hills. That’s why we try to stay out here and stay visible in the community.”

Morris leads the Cincinnati Works Phoenix Program, which aims to reduce gun violence by connecting at-risk adults with jobs. For kids under 18, Morris is taking on youth shootings through the Cincinnati Save Our Youth Kings & Queens program.

“I pretty much go into the areas where folks are known to shoot guns and try to talk to them about making a change,” Morris told CityBeat. “We have too many young folks going to the penitentiary and too many dying in the streets.”

Morris said it’s most common for shootings with juvenile victims to have juvenile shooters.

For years, Cincinnati Works has been a platform for Morris to incentivize kids who are picking up guns to replace them with something else.

“If they’re selling dope trying to make money, then that opens the door, we say, look, we’ll get you a job,” he said.

When a child is shot and killed, Morris said the impacts are felt far and deep. He’s also there to help with the emotional and sometimes economic aftermath felt by families.

“I try to talk to cousins, brothers, about stopping any retaliation,” Morris said. “And the parents, I have cases where I connect with the family after the child’s been shot and the mother might lose her job because, you know, mentally she’s just traumatized and can’t get back to work. A year or two might go by and she’ll think about me and call me and come by the program and end up getting a decent job to make a living on.”

Breaking the "illusion"

Morris and his staff of four mentors go out into neighborhoods after a shooting and pass out leaflets about ending gun violence. He said guns are becoming too easy for kids to get their hands on.

“Guns are so easily accessible,” he said. “There’s so many guns out there. Folks will get a hold of these guns and they’re chasing an illusion, they don’t really know the end results.”

To Morris, the illusion that’s being taught is a world where getting back at someone means an automatic death sentence.

“That’s what they know,” he said. “If you got an older person telling you, ‘If someone owes you money or is disrespecting you, this is what you do, this is the kind of life we live.' So, what we try to do is get in there and change that whole scenario.”

While the city works in the background to solve one part of the problem, advancing safer gun storage laws, Morris said community mentors are needed to break the “illusion” problem.

“We need more good people to be visible in the communities. Try and show them something different,” he said.

A fresh perspective

Cincinnati Works’ Save Our Youth Kings & Queens program has a physical space in Winton Terrace at 4848 Winneste Avenue where kids can use computers and hang out in a safe space. Morris hopes to create a media center there where kids can learn how to record podcasts and engineer audio and music. Along with his four mentors, Morris also tries to get kids out of the neighborhood for a fresh perspective.

“We show them different things that make them want to change their mind about carrying a gun,” Morris said. “We do nice things with them, things they wouldn’t normally see. You take them to a football game, a baseball game, you take them to a nice restaurant and sit them down to eat. These are things they aren’t accustomed to do. That’s what my mentor guys are all about.”

It’s not just taking kids on field trips, Morris said it’s about showing them how to deal when adult life gets hard.

“You have to lead by example. If they see you out drinking and driving crazy, that ain't gonna work,” he said. “Take them and show them what a real man is like, show them how you got problems as well and this is how we work through it.”

Share your skills

With 2023’s sharp increase in juvenile shootings, Morris is looking for more mentors. He said there’s no wrong skill set to bring to Winneste Avenue as a mentor – just sharing what you know and love is enough.

“Whatever you do that you enjoy, that’s what we want you to bring to the table,” he said. “Are you a cook? Are you a carpenter, a mason? Whatever your skill, what you enjoy doing, we’d love to share that with some of these youth, because they might just enjoy it as much as you. But they don’t know about it if someone doesn’t bring it to them.”

Those who are interested in mentoring can reach out to Morris at mmorris@cincinnatiworks.org.