photo by: Chris Conde/Journal-World

Superintendent Anthony Lewis attends a community outreach session to discuss violence among Lawrence youth on Monday, July 1, 2024, at Lawrence High School.

Community members, service providers and government officials gathered on Tuesday night to begin a series of conversations about improving safety in Lawrence in response to several teens having recently died from gun violence.

Kamarjay Shaw, 14, of Lawrence, was shot and killed on March 18, 2023, in a residential neighborhood after his friend group was feuding with another group. Brianna Higgins, 15, of Lawrence, was shot and killed on Jan. 19 in a parked car while two other teens were playing with guns. Davin Kerr, 18, of Lawrence, was shot and killed on March 5 while playing video games at his grandmother’s house as his friend was playing with a gun. Isaiah Neal, 17, of Lawrence, was shot and killed on June 13 outside his home in what his mother has called on social media as an “execution” style killing. Numerous other teens have suffered from drug overdoses or bouts of violence in the community.

“We also have students that are here with us every day who are lost. They are walking through life every day without purpose, without hope, without a guide,” said Kiley Luckett, the Lawrence school district’s mental health coordinator.

photo by: Chris Conde/Journal-World

Kiley Luckett leads attends a community outreach session to discuss violence among Lawrence youth on Monday, July 1, 2024, at Lawrence High School.

The conversation, led by Luckett along with Superintendent Anthony Lewis at Lawrence High School, was attended by dozens of community stakeholders involved in public safety or who directly interact with kids in the community, including members of the Lawrence Police Department, the District Attorney’s Office, O’Connell Youth Ranch, DCCCA, Boys and Girls Club, teachers, therapists, legislators and others.

The attendees were split into groups to workshop ideas and to propose solutions. In the first exercise participants were asked to identify the greatest concern they had in the community and then rank that against others. The top two concerns on the whole were a lack of resources for kids followed by a lack of hope.

Groups then shared their aspirations for the community, and the top answers were that they wanted kids to make it to adulthood and to have fulfilling lives but also to create a community where kids feel seen and connected to the community.

photo by: Chris Conde/Journal-World

Participants write down “who isn’t here” during a community outreach session to discuss violence among Lawrence youth on Monday, July 1, 2024, at Lawrence High School.

Participants were then asked to take note of who wasn’t in the room. “Who’s not here?” Luckett asked. Quickly people in the room sounded off to say that their entity or group was recognized as present but everyone agreed that the greatest stakeholders in the conversation were absent: kids and their parents.

Luckett said that getting kids involved in the discussion was one of the hardest tasks, especially when attracting the kids who need the most help. She said that the typical student who volunteers for a survey or for a discussion isn’t usually the one who needs immediate help.

Among the groups there was also discussion about trying to identify outside influencers or the “third adult” who could be in a child’s life to push them in the right direction or to receive them when it seems no one else wants to listen.

After looking at the groups and individuals who were missing, participants offered solutions that could help bring more people into the fold and what other goals could help along the way. One participant said that she wanted to find a way to end that hopelessness by turning kids onto the future and getting them excited about their own goals.

photo by: Chris Conde/Journal-World

District Attorney Suzanne Valdez and Lawrence High School Principal Quentin Rials attend a community outreach session to discuss violence among Lawrence youth on Monday, July 1, 2024, at Lawrence High School.

Another participant said that the community should invest in more mentorship programs and to teach conflict resolution classes to the youth so that more of them understand that violence is not the solution.

Luckett said that the meeting was just the first of many and that continued efforts in combatting violence would be crucial. She said the next step in the process would be to reach out to those who weren’t at the meeting.

“There is no handbook for your individual child,” Luckett said.

Lewis said he hoped that the community meetings would help Lawrence become a place where neighbors and residents could see and interact with kids again in a respectful and productive way.

“How do we bring those days back? Parents can’t do it alone. I can’t do it alone. When I was a kid and riding my bike too fast down the street my mom got a call, that same day. It was a community and Lawrence is an amazing community. So I am calling on all of us … to point to ourselves, to point to you and say, ‘What can I do?'” Lewis said.

photo by: Chris Conde/Journal-World

Superintendent Anthony Lewis attends a community outreach session to discuss violence among Lawrence youth on Monday, July 1, 2024, at Lawrence High School.

photo by: Chris Conde/Journal-World

Lawrence Police Chief Rich Lockhart, center, attends a community outreach session to discuss violence among Lawrence youth on Monday, July 1, 2024, at Lawrence High School.

photo by: Chris Conde/Journal-World

May our Bart Littlejohn, left, attends a community outreach session to discuss violence among Lawrence youth on Monday, July 1, 2024, at Lawrence High School.

photo by: Chris Conde/Journal-World

County Commisioner Karen Wiley, right, attends a community outreach session to discuss violence among Lawrence youth on Monday, July 1, 2024, at Lawrence High School.