Gunshot victims preach peace amid crime spike

Following a string of violence this Thanksgiving holiday that left a teen and three men dead, Louisville's homicide total has spiked to 75. Combined with four other killings out in the county, this is the deadliest year here in more than three decades. Overall shootings have also surged, up nearly 50 percent over the same period last year. And there's still a month to go. 

As 9-year-old Ki'Anthony Tyus peddled his tomato-colored bicycle down a hill at a Louisville-area park, a bullet dug into his thigh.

He had heard the pop of several gunshots from a passing car and the screeching of tires but didn't immediately realize he had been shot. He lost control of his bicycle, wobbling and tumbling to the ground.

"I tried to get up and wondered why I couldn't," said the Whitney Young Elementary student. "I pulled my pant leg up and saw a hole in my leg. It started burning.

"I didn't scream or cry or nothing," he said proudly. "I just asked for help. I was laying on the ground just staring at the sky. I said, 'I ain't ready to die yet.' "

Ki'Anthony, shot this summer in Ballard Park in the Smoketown area, is one of more than 300 victims shot from January through October of this year - 103 more victims than the same period last year.

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The day before Thanksgiving, a teen and two men were slain in three separate homicides and the body of a young adult was found Thanksgiving night. That brings the city's death toll, as of Friday, to 75 - the highest in 19 years. Combined with four other Jefferson County slayings this year, that's the largest tally since the 92 slayings in 1979.

Chief Steve Conrad discussed the spikes during a recent interview.

"We've got young people with guns using guns instead of words to resolve their issues," he said. "Guns are so easy to get in this community."

Conrad said he is focusing patrols in the three divisions where 77 percent of the killings occurred: The First Division, which encompasses downtown and adjacent neighborhoods east and west; the Second Division, which is west Louisville; and the Fourth Division, which includes Old Louisville, the Smoketown area and southern Louisville near Churchill Downs.

About three-fourths of this years shootings were in those areas, along with the Sixth Division -- which includes Newburg, sandwiched between the airport to the west and General Electric to the east.

Zooming in for an even closer look at the troubled areas, Conrad said 153 shootings - which is 51 percent of all of this year's shootings through October - happened in one of seven neighborhoods: Russell, Shawnee, California, Parkland, Portland, Chickasaw and Park Hill.

"We're seeing violent crime in the same neighborhoods," the chief said. "The vast majority involve guns."

Homicide Lt. Todd Kessinger said four double homicides this year contributed to the spike.

At least two were drug-related, one is unsolved and the fourth stemmed from a dispute. There have only been a handful of domestic killings this year, down from last year, he said.

"Drugs are always what drive the murders," said Kessinger, who oversees 17 homicide detectives and three cold case investigators.

"The only common pattern I've seen this year is that criminal activity precedes the murder. The murder is the final act" of a robbery or quarrel often involving drugs - ranging from cocaine to heroin and prescription pills.

He and the chief agree that police need more community involvement to reduce violent crimes and solve those that occur.

"This isn't about more cops," the chief said. "This is about the community getting involved and helping us address the crime."

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Several grassroots programs are underway to curtail violence.

Community activist Eddie Woods works to reach some of the city's most at-risk youths through tutoring, presentations and street-level interventions.

“It’s a battle for our kids,” he said of this year's spike in shootings and killings. “Everybody’s got to get mad about it the same way they got about cancer and smoking and even bullying. Everybody’s got to participate in the fight.”

Ki'Anthony, who turned 10 since his was wounded, is involved in an anti-violence movement led by community activists Christopher 2X and Norman Parker. They wear black T-shirts that read: "We all we got. Hood 2 Hood."

"I want to help people not get shot," Ki'Anthony said.

The bullet that ripped into his leg on June 8 shattered his femur bone, the main thigh bone that connects to the hip. At the hospital, he sobbed when he heard he had to have surgery, fearing it would hurt and mistakenly thinking he would remain awake.

Doctors inserted a metal rod with screws but weren't able to remove the bullet. The energetic fifth-grader, who had enjoyed running track, faces another surgery.

His shooter hasn't been caught. He theorizes the bullets were meant for someone older in the park, where several teens had been playing basketball nearby.

His grandmother, Ernestine Tyus, said she forgives the shooter.

"I could have been burying my grandson, but I cannot walk around in this world with hate in my heart," she said. "I'm hoping and praying he's turned his life around since he got a second chance by not getting caught.

"I would like an apology and for him to meet Ki'Anthony."

Ki'Anthony, who spent his summer recovering instead of vacationing as planned in Atlanta, said he initially wanted to find a gun and retaliate. But, recently baptized, he felt that would be wrong.

Louisville domestic fatality trends "troubling"

His neighbor, Diontae Reed, also was shot this year when a gunman sprayed a crowd with bullets.

Diontae, then 13, his older brothers and friends from their Shawnee neighborhood had finished playing basketball on March 2, got some fast food chicken and were walking around when they encountered a rival group near the intersection of Amy and Vermont streets.

Diontae said he isn't in a gang, but some of his friends are and had guns that night. An argument with opposing gang members started with trash talking and escalated to gunfire.

Diontae, who said he wasn't involved in the fight and didn't have a gun, turned to run. A bullet tore into his back and through his stomach. He lifted up his shirt and saw the bullet pressing against his skin.

"I tried to put my left leg down and I just fell straight to the ground," he said. "I thought I was going to die."

His 18-year-old brother scooped him up and carried him to a brick wall.

"I was closing my eyes. My brother said, 'Don't let him go to sleep!' "

His lungs collapsed, requiring two surgeries and 10 days in the intensive care unit.

"The only thought I had was to get revenge," he said. "I'm not going to forgive him. He shouldn't die, just go to jail and do his time."

His shooter hasn't been caught. Diontae said he wasn't the intended target so he isn't afraid of the gunman returning, but he is afraid in general of the gun violence pervasive in this neighborhood.

Sometimes he jolts awake from nightmares of being chased by a gunman and of not surviving. He is more cautious about when and where he hangs out with neighbors who are in gangs.

The homicide lieutenant said he isn't sure how many shootings or killings are gang related.

"I do see juveniles who run together in the same neighborhood, wearing the same colors and calling themselves gang members," Kessinger said. "I don't know how organized they are and if the killings are related specifically to that."

Diontae, who turned 14 since his shooting, said he had craved revenge, but he didn't want to risk prison or disappoint his mother, who is part of an anti-violence movement.

Instead, Diontae - who knows five people who have been shot - has joined Ki'Anthony and others to preach peace at schools, community events and during door-to-door visits.

"People who haven't been shot will probably listen to me," Diontae said.

SHOOTINGS

Of 301 shootings in Louisville from January-October 2015, 51 percent happened in one of seven neighborhoods: 

Russell, 50

Shawnee, 29

Parkland, 21

Portland, 17

Chickasaw, 16

California, 10

Park Hill, 10