for The Wall Street Journal: Juvenile Crime Surges, Reversing Long Decline. ‘It’s Just Kids Killing Kids.’ by José A. Alvarado Jr.

Media

for The Wall Street Journal: Juvenile Crime Surges, Reversing Long Decline. ‘It’s Just Kids Killing Kids.’

josé a. alvarado jr.

Jan 26, 2023

Location: New York City

Summary

Violence among children has soared across the country since 2020. One consequence: a mounting toll of young victims.

A 13-year-old boy ran through the Bronx streets one May afternoon last year, chased by two teens on a scooter. Surveillance video showed him frantically trying to open the doors of an assisted-living facility. The scooter peeled onto the sidewalk and sped toward him. A 15-year-old boy riding on the back pointed a handgun and fired multiple times, police say.

Nearby, 11-year-old Kyhara Tay stood outside a beauty salon after school, eating chicken wings and waiting for her friends to finish getting their nails done. A stray bullet struck the pavement in front of her, authorities say. Another pierced her stomach. She was rushed in critical condition to Lincoln Hospital 2 miles away, where she died that night.

Violence among children has soared across the country since 2020, a stark reversal of a decadeslong decline in juvenile crime.

In the U.S., homicides committed by juveniles acting alone rose 30% in 2020 from a year earlier, while those committed by multiple juveniles increased 66%. The number of killings committed by children under 14 was the highest in two decades, according to the most recent federal data.

Photographed for The Wall Street Journal, with words by By Dan Frosch and Zusha Elinson.

Juvenile Crime Surges, Reversing Long Decline. ‘It’s Just Kids Killing Kids.’
Violence among children has soared across the country since 2020. One consequence: a mounting toll of young victims.
Wsj.com

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José A. Alvarado Jr.

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