The senseless murder of a party store clerk is only part of the ongoing violence in Jackson.
"It was horrible," said Hakim Crampton, an adult ally of the student advocate center of Michigan. "The second I heard about the tragic shooting I was saddened instantly. I've lost so many friends growing up as a youth."
Jackson has a problem with violence. Early in November a 57-year-old man was shot outside of the Greenwood Food Market. There were a string of gang-related shootings back in august. And Hakim says this is all too typical for his community:
"It's been happening in our country for decades and decades and it really undersells the issue of poverty and youth degeneration today. We have a culture a youth today that we would really describe as degenerate and we really need to focus on addressing the problems that are affecting young youth today."
Residents are starting to feel the violence is taking its toll on how people view the city.
"People are scared to come to this side of town," said Martelle Young, who lives in Jackson. People are scared to walk these streets and I'm starting to see why. You can't even walk down the street no more without hearing gun fire.
They don't want Jackson to be viewed as a war zone.
"This is Jackson Michigan," Martelle said. "It's supposed to be a place where you can raise your family, bring em up the right way, go off to school and become something."
Advocates believe the answer is to band together:
"What i would really like to say is that i would really like to see a stronger investment in the Jackson community," Hakim said. "In our youth's future. We really need to focus our initiative. This city needs to adopt a policy and focus on their futures because right now their futures are very slim."
Hopefully these actions will help the community will band together and put a stop to the violence.
