DAYTON — It has been a violent few weeks in Dayton. Since late November, there have been three homicides that left four dead, contributing to the city’s homicide rate being the highest it’s been in five years.
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Dayton Mayor Jeffrey Mims said this impacts every area of the city’s future, even economic gains, but the real concern is the losses to the victim’s families and the loss of victims’ talents.
“I want to keep everybody safe in this city,” Mims said.
The mayor told News Center 7 that he’s heartbroken for every victim of violence and their surviving family. That’s why he wants to drastically reduce gun violence by bringing in a violence interruption program.
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As reported on News Center 7 at 5:30, Mims said the program is a priority to stop losing Dayton residents to violence.
“But before we start talking about the value they provide to the city, you know as individuals, as family members, we think about the pain that their family experiences,” he said.
Nichole Roberts lost her son, Dejuan Hooker, to gun violence this past summer. She said that over four months later, she’s still waiting for answers and charges against the people responsible.
“He deserves justice. Dejuan deserves justice,” she said. “He was only 25. He had his whole life in front of him.”
Roberts said she’s not waiting for the hurt she feels to go away.
“Because there’s not a second that goes by in my day that I don’t miss my child,” Roberts said.
The mayor said these types of stories are horrible. He’s seen News Center 7′s reporting on homicides all year, including one on Krammer Avenue just five days ago and the death of a couple in their home on Holly Avenue on Tuesday.
To date, Dayton police have responded to 42 homicides this year. That’s a dozen more than the city saw last year.
“No one deserves to lose their life in this situation,” Mims said.
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