Cleveland Browns coach establishes safe housing for trafficking victims
Browns coach BEREA — Hue Jackson and his wife, Michelle, have seen firsthand the horrors of human trafficking, and they’re committed to fighting it in this area.
They not only launched The Hue Jackson Foundation to combat human trafficking in Cleveland at the Browns facility Thursday night, they also announced their first initiative: The Hue Jackson Survivors of Human Trafficking Residence. It will be a 12-bed facility being built in partnership with The Salvation Army of Greater Cleveland to enable victims to heal and focus on their treatment.
“There are elements of this that we’ve seen firsthand,” Jackson said after a presentation about trafficking in this area. “A lot of different areas in this realm that we’re talking about, we’ve witnessed and have been privy to, so it’s something that me and Michelle really discussed at length about what direction to go in and this is where it led our hearts.”
Michelle acknowledged that being the parents of three girls, Jordyn, Baylee and Haydyn, have made them aware of this horrible crime.
“As parents, I think we all know that these issues are out there and you hear about it everywhere and they affect everybody somehow, someway,” she said. “And we’re no different. As parents of three girls, this touches us. And we’re very, very excited to take this on.”
Jackson added, “This is an issue that kind of goes uncovered, and a lot of people really don’t want to talk about it. But I’ve never been that way. I’m not afraid of a challenge. Obviously, I’ve faced them every day.
“We wanted to find something that we can make a huge impact in, not something that we just put our hands in or put our foot in. We’re all in. We rolled up our sleeves and we’re going to dive in and we want to make a difference in this area.
“Not enough people really want to deal with this issue. They don’t want to tackle it.
“We’ve seen the impact of what this creature does to young people and even older people and we want to make a difference.”
Jackson said establishing the Survivor’s Residence was especially important to him and Michelle. Estimates show there are fewer than 100 beds nationally for the estimated 100,000 annual victims of trafficking.
“The foundation believed that in order for survivors to break the trafficking cycle, secure housing is critical,” he said. “(It’s) the long-term effects. People think ijust happens and you start over. That’s not what happens in this situation. The lasting effects that happen to these young people or even older people, they need help and to be able to bridge that gap and help in so many different areas. It’s not just physical, it’s the mental. I think it’s very important to lend that type of assistance.”
The Jacksons were even more committed to joining the fight when they discovered that Ohio has some of the highest rates of human trafficking in the nation.
“When we did our research to find out that this is (a) leading area of human trafficking was surprising,” said Jackson. “Because you wouldn’t think that. The different signs, the different things that happen, being able to understand it and understand what it really is. What is the definition of human trafficking? And starting to really take that on and understand it, it’s tremendous to find out all the things that lead into human trafficking.”
During a heartwrenching documentary called “Know Human Trafficking” shown during the event in the voices of four victims, Detective John Morgan pointed out that trafficking has taken place all over Northeast Ohio, including suburbs such as North Olmsted and Rocky River.
“That’s right around the corner,” said Michelle. “That’s close. That’s right here. So (it’s) all throughout Ohio, all throughout really the country. But we’re targeting right here, right now and we’ll see where this goes.”
The evening, attended by about 125 people, included presentations by Renee Jones from the Renee Jones Empowerment Center; Major Evan Hickman, Divisional Commander of The Salvation Army — Northeast Ohio Division; and Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine, who formed the Human Trafficking Commission a year ago.
DeWine stressed that trafficking is all around us in this area.
“People see it and they don’t know they’re seeing it,” he said.
Columbus COLUMBUS — police have issued arrest warrants for two men and are seeking two more in connection with a double-fatal shooting early Wednesday that ended a home invasion which lasted nearly 10 hours at a West Side apartment building.
Officers were called to the Wedgewood Village apartment complex at 1:48 a.m. Wednesday on a report of a shooting in a second-floor apartment.
Abdul Cadir Ali Yussef, 19, was pronounced dead at the scene at 2:10 a.m. by paramedics. Mohamed Ali Mohamed, 26, was initially listed in extremely critical condition and transported to Mount Carmel West Hospital, where he later died from his injuries at 12:03 p.m.
Two other male victims in the apartment were injured. Mulhidin Haji, 22, was transported to OhioHealth Doctor’s West hospital with moderate injuries after he was pistol whipped. Omar Mohamed Omar, 21, was injured after he jumped out of a second-story window to escape, but he was not transported.
In addition, 27-year-old Ashley Tucker was wounded when bullets from the shooting in the apartment above went through the floor into her first-floor apartment unit. She was taken to Mount Carmel West Hospital, where she was listed in stable condition.
Arrest warrants have been issued for 35-year-old Desmond Lemelle Webster and 22-year-old Julius Ledale Anderson, who both face aggravated murder charges and likely other charges. SWAT officers and police were actively searching for them Wednesday night.
“They are to be considered armed and dangerous,” Sgt. Jeff Strayer, who oversees the third-shift homicide unit, said in a released statement.
Police are also looking for two more suspects who have not been identified.
It’s unclear what motivated the home invasion or triggered the shooting inside the apartment.
“It was not random,” Strayer said.
A neighbor had called 911 on a few men breaking into a neighboring apartment. She told The Dispatch that while police officers were on the scene investigating, they all heard the gunshots coming from the apartment.
A stolen white Toyota Prius suspects used to flee the area was found hours later about 3 miles away from the apartment.
The car had been torched when it was abandoned in the 1600 block of Rosemont Avenue. Strayer said the Prius was owned by one of the shooting victims.
Wednesday’s deaths mark a total of six homicides at the apartment complex this year — all occurred in three double-fatal shootings.
In January, Jawuan Lamont Wade Reynolds, who also went by the stage name Fam Staxx, and his best friend, Caleb Jordan Killen, were found fatally shot inside Killen’s car at Wedgewood Village.
In April, 25-year-old Omar Abdulkadir Ali and 21-yearold Mohamed Noor “Deq” Mohamed were killed outside an apartment building.
The apartment complex is owned by Wedgewood Village 2010, which is based in Detroit. Jim Fogler, property manager for the complex, previously told The Dispatch that the property owner has surveillance cameras and private security. The complex also has two Columbus police officers working special duty seven nights a week. Fogler did not return a phone call seeking comment.
Police officers were still guarding the scene Wednesday night with a cruiser parked on the grass, holding up yellow crime-scene tape to the entrance of the apartment building where the shooting occurred.
Mohamed Yusuf, 34, was sitting on an apartment stoop across the street, smoking a cigarette Wednesday afternoon.
He happened to be out smoking during the early morning hours when he heard the commotion
“I heard a whole lot of shots,” Yusuf said.
Yusuf, who immigrated from Somalia, has lived in the apartment complex for more than four years after moving from Milwaukee. He said he doesn’t know what has fueled the recent spike in homicides.
“I keep to myself. I don’t socialize,” Yusuf said. “It’s crazy.”
Another Somali immigrant, Ali Abdi, 22, accompanied his family when they moved to Wedgewood Village apartments two weeks ago from Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
“I have never seen anything like this,” Abdi said of the crime scene across the street.