Community reacts to 14-year-old shot

LANSING Michigan (WLNS) – A 14-year-old has died after a shooting Saturday and police have released his name. Community advocates say consistent prevention efforts are key to finding solutions.

The 14-year-old killed was Jaquez Moye-Young. He was shot near the 1400 block of Oakland Avenue. This is the fifth homicide in Lansing so far in 2024 and the Lansing School District confirmed that Moye-Young was a student at Lansing schools. Erica Lynn is co-founder of an organization called The Village Lansing that works to combat gun violence. She said this issue requires attention year-round.

“A whole community is losing very young people because of this,” Lynn said.

Lynn said it was devastating to hear that another man had lost his life to gun violence at just 14 years old.

“They’re not really adults yet. They’re not even really teenagers yet. And when something like that happens, you feel like you didn’t even have a chance with them,” Lynn said.

The shooting happened around 3 p.m. Saturday. Police said they received a call about shots fired and when they arrived on Oakland Avenue they found Moye-Young shot. He was pronounced dead at a hospital.

“They want all children in our community to be safe, healthy and vibrant. And right now that’s not happening far too often in Lansing,” Lynn said.

Lynn said Lansing is a close-knit community where everyone knows everyone. So when you move on from something like that, it’s important to heal but not forget.

“We have to remember history, we have to remember where we come from. That’s why it’s called cyclical and retaliatory gun violence, it’s a cycle. “So we have to continue to be strategic and intentional, and we have to be consistent and really stick with it, regardless of the ups and downs of violence in our city,” Lynn said.

How can we help prevent shootings like this? Lynn said this is a complex question, which is why another of her initiatives, Lansing 360 (hyperlink: https://www.lansingempowermentnetwork.org/events), is meeting to find solutions. These meetings are open to everyone.

“There’s an old saying that says, if children are thrown into the river, when do we go upstream and find out why they fall in,” Lynn continued. “We meet weekly and will develop strategies, solutions and resources so we don’t have to respond every time something like this happens.”

Lansing police said there have been no arrests so far and they do not believe it was a random act. The investigation into the situation and its background has not yet been completed.