16-year-old fatally stabbed in Milwaukee
Charges for woman pending review
Police have arrested a 19-year-old woman after a 16-year-old boy was stabbed to death on Milwaukee’s northwest side Tuesday night.
No information was released about the circumstances behind the incident, but police said they were called to the 7000 block of North 43rd Street at 11:20 p.m. The boy was pronounced dead at the scene and charges for the woman are pending review by the Milwaukee County District Attorney’s Office.
The homicide is the 24th of the year and the fifth involving a child, according to the Milwaukee Police Department.
Homicides are so far down about 30% from last year, but up about 28% from 2021, two years in which the city set new highs for fatal violence, according to police data.
Such incidents had been on a steady monthly decline since July 2022, but have been fluctuating since December, with 18 homicides reported that much, 10 in January and 14 in February, according to the Milwaukee Homicide Review Commission and preliminary data from the Police Department.
But Tuesday’s incident continues increased rates of child victimization in Milwaukee. In each of the four years before the pandemic, between 7% and 8% of homicide victims were age 17 or younger, according to the Milwaukee Homicide Review Commission. No more than 10 children died by homicide each year.
In each of the three full years since then, that percentage has risen to between 10% and 14%. Each year saw more than 20 child victims.
Local officials have said before that the withdrawal of school and other social services during the pandemic may have had a larger impact on children.
After a 17-year-old was shot and killed in Milwaukee on Jan. 1, a group of community activists and violence prevention workers held a press conference encouraging residents to mediate disputes peacefully or reach out to a range of organizations for help.
“There are a plethora of resources here,” Lynn Lewis, the program director for Milwaukee’s team of violence interrupters, called 414Life, said in January. “Reach out. Let us support you. Let us engage with you. Let us show up on your porch. Let us show up to your child’s school. Let us help you mediate.”
Where to find help
Milwaukee’s Office of Violence Prevention also recommends these resources for free support:
414Life outreach and conflict mediation support: 414-439-5398.
Milwaukee County’s 24-Hour Mental Health Crisis Line: 414-257-7222.
Milwaukee’s Child Mobile Crisis and Trauma Response Team: 414-257-7621.
National crisis text line: Text HOPELINE to 741741 to text with a trained crisis counselor.
National Suicide Prevention Hotline: 800-273-8255.The National Domestic Violence Hotline is 800-799-7233. Contact Elliot Hughes at elliot.hughes@jrn.com or 414-704-8958. Follow him on Twitter @elliothughes12.