DC children die, but nothing changes

Two years ago on July 16, 10-year-old Makiyah Wilson was shot and killed on her way to buy ice cream in her Northeast Washington neighborhood. Last July, 11-yearold Karon Brown was fatally shot while running away from a fight that had broken out in front of a McDonald’s in Southeast Washington. This year - on the Fourth of July 11-year-old Davon McNeal was shot in the head and died when he left a community cookout to pick up a phone charger from an aunt who lived nearby. Police Thursday arrested one suspect and are seeking three others.

Each time a child is killed the reaction is the same. There is an outpouring of grief and horror and anger. Vigils and marches are held. There are calls to end the madness.

“#EnoughIsEnough” tweeted D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) after Makiyah was killed. “This is not normal. Something is wrong in Washington, D.C.” said the impassioned preacher at the packed funeral for Karon. “This is ridiculous. Our babies are being gunned down, and this has got to stop,” said Davon’s anguished grandfather.

Washington is not alone in seeing a surge of violence in already hard-hit minority communities, and there clearly are no easy answers. Is this really the right time for the D.C. Council to make cuts to the police budget that will leave far fewer officers on the streets?

Davon was shot while attending a “Stop the Violence” cookout organized by his mother, who works as a “violence interrupter” in mediating between gangs to resolve conflicts.