PHOENIX — Tuesday night at the Cesar Chavez Community Center, 12News held our second town hall focused on the issue of teen violence in the community.
The audience was filled with parents and teens who joined a panel of community members, law enforcement, educators and activists, in hopes of identifying solutions and addressing the problem across Valley neighborhoods.
Several audience members were holding up photos of their loved ones who died in teen violence situations.
VERSIÓN EN ESPAÑOL: ‘Se necesita de una aldea’: Foro sobre violencia entre adolescentes une a la comunidad y expertos para discusiones importantes
You can watch the full town hall event here:
Here are some of the topics that were discussed during the event.
'It takes a village.'
Parents seek change after losing children to gun violence
Two of the panelists were parents who lost their children to gun violence.
Greg Gutierrez was born and raised in Phoenix and now owns a local barbershop. His son, Jaiden Torrez, was 16 years old when he was shot and killed in February 2021. His case remains unsolved.
Gutierrez was at the first 12News Teen Violence Town Hall in Gilbert and is part of the reason a town hall was held in Phoenix on Tuesday. He stood up at the first town hall and asked 12News to have this conversation in Phoenix.
"It's very important to my family and all of our friends and to the community that we get some type of... I don't know, something has to be done... I don't even know how to put it into words to be honest," Gutierrez said. "It's just been the worst thing I have ever experienced in my life.
"Even though we don't have answers to Jaiden's case, it is very important that the parents and the children understand that this could be you sitting right here."
He said he wanted to join the town hall to see "what we can figure out together because I can't do nothing alone."
Panelist Mark Jacobo's son Stephen was murdered a year ago on his 18th birthday. Stephen was Mark’s youngest of three sons. Mark has been a Mesa resident since 1993 and is the proud owner of the family-operated COBO Plumbing LLC.
He also started the Stephen Benito Jacobo Foundation and hopes to bring awareness and educate others about the impacts of gun violence on local youth.
"For me, my grieving, my healing, is to start this foundation to continue the love that he has always given to everybody— not only to look at stopping gun violence and putting things in place but also, I think in actuality, it is starting with the families," Jacobo said.
Jacobo said the foundation isn't just about awareness and education, but also mentoring troubled youth.
"It's giving kids guidance, regardless if it's tough love, regardless if it's just bringing them back to reality," Jacobo said. "What I've learned and my family has learned is that we are not promised tomorrow. Our kids are not promised tomorrow."
Both fathers said they want to make the Valley a safer place for teens but need help from others in the community.
Another panelist, Larry McGill, Jr., South Pointe High School Principal, said he has had to bury way too many of his students. He said in a perfect world, preventing teen violence would start at home with the schools being "a great partner."
"But, we are not in a perfect world right now. We have families that are coming to us that are broken in a bad way and so the school, we sometimes have to fill in some of those gaps that aren't being met— some of those needs that aren't being met— and it's very difficult," McGill said.
Preventing violence in the youth population has to be a team effort, McGill said.
'It’s kind of hard to do it on your own.'
Community programs, police work to prevent violence
Phoenix Police Department Assistant Chief Sean Connolly, who was a panelist for the town hall, said police recently saw a significant spike in juvenile crime.
"In 2023, as crime went down overall— violent and property crime— what we did see, because we are engaged, is an incredible spike in juvenile crime in our cities, so we value immensely this conversation," Connolly said.
The Phoenix Police Department juvenile crime plan moving forward is focusing on the role of behavioral health and the role of fentanyl and other drugs in teen violence.
"We have a whole host of programs in our menu but I think there's more things to do as it relates to the precise intervention and prevention of trigger pullers and those who have the ability to be shot by those trigger pullers, and it's in this room those answers lie," Connolly said.
Panelist Farrah Fiegener, a mentor at New Pathways, works every day to teach at-risk kids how valuable they are, which she said is a huge part of making kids feel worthy.
"It is so important to feel that self-worth," Fiegener said.
All kids who come through New Pathways are matched with volunteer mentors— caring adults who can "show up consistently and can withhold judgment so their mentees always have somebody they can come to."
The mentor does not replace the parental figure in their life, just gives them someone safe to talk to.
"The caregivers of our youth, they love their children but sometimes they're just strapped because of their financial situations and aren't able to provide that consistent care, so that's where the mentor steps in," Fiegener said.
Fiegener's mentee, Marcelino De La Rosa, said she was the first person he opened up to outside of his family. De La Rosa said he thinks everyone needs a mentor, especially when times are tough.
“Because it’s kind of hard to do it on your own,” De La Rosa said.
Panelist Paolla Jordan lost her son, Adrio Romine, to suicide. Following his death, Jordan discovered Romine had been having a conversation with someone on Reddit for more than a month.
“My son had a conversation with a predator for over 40 days prior to him dying by suicide. And he basically instructed him in writing over 120 pages about how to do it. And that is – it's now illegal,” Jordan said.
Following Romine’s death, Jordan worked to get a law passed that would make it manslaughter if any adult provides advice or encouragement that a minor uses to take their own life. Former Gov. Doug Ducey signed it into law in 2021.
Jordan also started the LaloBoy Foundation alongside her daughter, Merixtell Adria. The organization helps families access mental health support.
"It takes bravery to say 'I need help'," Jordan said at the town hall. "We have the offender, we also have the victim. Laloboy Foundation does not discriminate— we are there to serve the families who do not have the financial means to get the counseling support kids need."
The foundation works hard to remove the financial barriers for struggling kids.
"Some days are heavier, but when I can call my daughter and say 'You know what? We saved one today,' that helps me get out of bed," Jordan said.
'It's unnatural for a parent to bury their child'
Finding a solution to teen violence
A common theme in the town hall was to make sure kids have a sense of belonging and someone to talk to.
"Talk to them, listen to them, and let them have that space to speak," Alyssa Tarkington, Executive Director of Student and Family Services with Phoenix Union High School District, said.
Tarkington said the district works with connecting students to a club, sport, or activity to be sure they have that sense of belonging.
"But they're also teenagers, so we talk about the adolescent brain and education with teachers all the time," Tarkington said. "They're going to make those mistakes, so, really, upfront doing that prevention work and educating about 'that can get you in a world of trouble.'"
Going to teens to have discussions instead of waiting for them to reach out is also important.
"People often won't come to you when you need help, we have to make sure that we're going out to the communities and having these conversations," Pastor Andre Miller with New Beginnings Christian Church said. "We need to make sure that we're having these conversations for real and not just for surface, but truly for real to make sure these things don't continue to happen. It's unnatural for a parent to bury their child."
Reaching out to kids also means relating to them and meeting them where they are.
"I have to make sure that I'm versed in how young people talk, I'm versed in how young people think," Miller said. "Although it may not be normal, it's their social norm."
Young people are way more advanced, they get more information than we get and they get it quicker than we do, Miller said.
"So we gotta make sure that we are trying to stay ahead of that because that is the society we live in, and if we don't— we will continue to lose our children."
Miller also said parents have to be held accountable. He said he has seen an erosion of parents being aware of what is going on in their kids' lives over the years.
"I remember when I was in school— I graduated high school in '97— but when I was in elementary school, I had a problem with another student. The principal had me, the student and our parents come in and have a conference and talk about what was going on," Miller said. "They don't do that now because they say 'Oh, they're bringing conflict.' No, it won't. It will bring awareness with parents and you want parents to be aware of what's going on."