Solutions to gun violence starts at home, city leaders say

Lexington held its third community gun violence forum Monday night for District 3

LEXINGTON, Ky. (WTVQ) – With a little over a month left in 2022, Lexington has well surpassed last year’s record breaking number of homicides in the city. According to the city’s crime data, Lexington has seen 40 homicides and 112 injury-involved shootings.

Lexington’s third community gun violence forum focusing on finding solutions at home, before they spread to the streets. ONE Lexington director Devine Carama saying if conversations about gun violence aren’t getting emotional, then they aren’t good conversations. A handful of people at Monday’s gun violence forum, emotional sharing their story of the impact gun violence has had in their lives.

“My son was shot with malice,” says Alisa Hairston.

“My son now is in the Fayette County Detention Center,” says Vicky Ritter.

Two mothers living two different nightmares. Both saying they were fully involved in their sons lives and doing everything they could to help keep them safe.

“My son was in Gio’s program, my son was in Powell’s program, my son was in church, my son’s gone everywhere imaginable. It comes down to a choice,” says Ritter.

“Because I was the parent that was there for mine, all the way. He’d only been back here a week, he was graduating to go to culinary arts school, he didn’t want to play ball no more,” says Hairston.

These mothers calling city leaders out, saying the representation from the community for our city’s kids is sending mixed messages as some allegedly have one foot in the game but one foot out. Carama taking the hit on the chin but saying often these kids don’t want to talk to people who haven’t walked a mile in their shoes.

“A lot of these kids are already in the cycle and so for those kids, it takes a certain story and a certain individual to reach them, but I think the truth that you are speaking is there has to be a balance, right? So, nothing you are saying is a lie but that is the struggle when it comes to the outreach,” says Carama.

A big theme of the night circling back to solutions starting from inside the home.

“We need to get back to some of those old values. You know, we don’t eat dinner together, we need to start eating dinner together,” says Lexington Police Chief Lawrence Weathers. “When kids come home from school, don’t talk at them, talk with them. Sit down, share and that’s all, that’s sometimes all it takes.”