Violence is Killing the Most Yakima County Kids
YAKIMA COUNTY --- Violence is still the number one thing killing kids in the Yakima Valley. It's a problem police and parents say they're trying to prevent.
Too often police have picked up the gun shells, while families pick up the pieces. The Yakima County Coroner said of the kids younger than 18 killed since last January, most were from violence like gun and stab wounds.
"I think we're all realizing that this isn't something we can enforce our way out of," Yakima Police Lt., Mike Merryman said. Police have been going into schools and mentoring them after school to prevent it. But there have been 13 kids murdered in the last year. That's about the same as the year before. "The message is to make that impact early on in a kid’s life so that they make good decisions."
"I ask him who his friends are and he usually gives me the run around," father, Noel Villafan shrugged. While it might sometimes be tough to connect, he is already trying with his 7-year-old, Angel by spending time with him and asking questions anyway. "Even though it might sound dumb, just ask." It may sound like a simple thing to do, but it's something police don't always see from parents. "It's frustrating as law enforcement officer to show up at the scene of a tragedy and to talk to a parent. You see it over and over again, they don't know the friends, they really don't know where the friends live, they don't know the friends parents. That's part of being responsible," Merryman said. It's at least one way you can try to help a kid early on, before their life ends early on.
The number two thing killing kids: vehicle accidents. Drowning comes in with the third most cases since January of 2009.
Too often police have picked up the gun shells, while families pick up the pieces. The Yakima County Coroner said of the kids younger than 18 killed since last January, most were from violence like gun and stab wounds.
"I think we're all realizing that this isn't something we can enforce our way out of," Yakima Police Lt., Mike Merryman said. Police have been going into schools and mentoring them after school to prevent it. But there have been 13 kids murdered in the last year. That's about the same as the year before. "The message is to make that impact early on in a kid’s life so that they make good decisions."
"I ask him who his friends are and he usually gives me the run around," father, Noel Villafan shrugged. While it might sometimes be tough to connect, he is already trying with his 7-year-old, Angel by spending time with him and asking questions anyway. "Even though it might sound dumb, just ask." It may sound like a simple thing to do, but it's something police don't always see from parents. "It's frustrating as law enforcement officer to show up at the scene of a tragedy and to talk to a parent. You see it over and over again, they don't know the friends, they really don't know where the friends live, they don't know the friends parents. That's part of being responsible," Merryman said. It's at least one way you can try to help a kid early on, before their life ends early on.
The number two thing killing kids: vehicle accidents. Drowning comes in with the third most cases since January of 2009.
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