The number of teenagers charged with horrifyingly violent crimes has skyrocketed in Cuyahoga County. Lakisha Trull, 39 and a mother, knows how it feels to be targeted by teenagers.
ByCUYAHOGA COUNTY, Ohio - The number of teenagers charged with horrifyingly violent crimes has skyrocketed in Cuyahoga County.“They need to be stopped,” said juvenile crime victim Lakisha Trull. “They’re gonna keep doing it if they keep letting them out on an ankle monitor.
” Trull, 39 and a mother, knows how it feels to be targeted by teenagers. She was in the car with her kids in the driveway of her home when a teen in a ski mask pointed a gun at her and threatened to kill her. “My son started kicking and screaming,” Trull recalled. “My daughter was crying. I told my daughter to take off her seat belt, kneel down to the floor.”“I was scared because he had me right there,” said Trull. “The gun pointed straight at me. I was just thinking in my head, my brother taught me, ‘Keisha, stay focused and think fast.’”Two of the teens accused were 15 and 17 years old. 19 Investigates discovered the same teens are accused of committing four violent robberies in 24 hours. According to Cuyahoga County juvenile court records, the 17-year-old was on an ankle monitor when police arrested him.“He was on an ankle monitor that’s how the police knew that he came over here and tried to jack me,” Trull said. “Something needs to happen or we’re going to have more murders out here.” The other teens police said were involved were 19-year-old Anyrie Wallace, 18-year-old Ja’Brian Howard, and 18-year-old Aringwa Harris. Cleveland police said Howard and the 15-year-old robbed and pistol-whipped a 61-year-old man at a Cleveland ATM in November. The man defended himself, shooting Howard in the hand. The 15-year-old was shot in the stomach forcing him to wear a colostomy bag – but that didn’t slow him down – police said he was still wearing it when he carjacked Trull. “I see news clips of kids just sitting back in their chair, smiling and laughing, they ought to be terrified,” said Former Franklin County juvenile court judge, Yvette McGee Brown.“I’m concerned,” McGee Brown said of the current state of the juvenile justice system. “In criminal justice, you always have a pendulum that either swings too far right or too far left. When I was on the bench in the early 90s, we were dealing with a crack cocaine epidemic and so the system was looking at juveniles as super predators. I don’t think that was correct. But right now, we’re in a place where we have too many judges thinking that these are just children, maybe give them probation or an ankle monitor, and everything’s going to be okay. Well, you can’t do that for every child.” In 2000, the Cuyahoga County juvenile court brought four murder charges against kids. In 2023, 139 charges were filed.In 2021, 43 kids in Cuyahoga County were charged with taking someone’s life. In 2022, that number nearly doubled with 82 kids charged. McGee Brown blames juvenile court judges. “I understand that judges are pressed, and they’ve got lots of files to get through. But you know what, that’s what you signed up for,” McGee Brown explained. “Every child that comes before you should get your immediate attention and if you don’t want to do that, then don’t be a juvenile court judge.” McGee Brown thinks sometimes kids need to be sent to ODYS so they can realize their actions have consequences. “I am a judge who believes in tough love,” she admitted. “If I didn’t have confidence a child could be safely maintained in the community, I held them.” Some law enforcement officers and public officials have blamed a state-run program for the increase in juvenile crime. Some have even called for changes to the RECLAIM program. 19 Investigates brought these concerns to state legislators in Columbus. Tune in Thursday, March 21, for the second part of our investigation.
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