INDIANAPOLIS — We've heard so many Hoosiers say enough is enough when it comes to violence in Indianapolis, especially when it involves young people.
Now, some funeral directors say they're feeling the impact of youth violence.
"The most difficult part is having to walk that mother or walk that father into the chapel and they see their young teenage child lying in the casket," said Quincey Webster, funeral director of Quincey J. Webster Funeral Home. "I can still reflect on some of the screaming that that mother may have done when they had to look at their son who had been gunned down."
In Indianapolis, IMPD reported 21 people under the age of 18 were shot and killed between Jan. 1 and Dec. 1, 2023.
Nationwide, the numbers are increasing.
According to the Gun Violence Archive, in 2023, 1,402 children and teenagers ages 12 to 17 were killed by a gun. There were 1,386 in 2022, 1,266 in 2021 and 1,093 in 2020.
"This younger generation seems to not have any hope. They seem to think that the only way to resolve issues is by killing one another or by shooting one another," Webster said.
The reality hits close to home.
"It's a lot of people, like nowadays in our generation, who don't make it to 21," high school senior Marquise Jackson said. "Like, you're barely lucky if you make it to 18."
But Jackson is holding on to hope.
"I really thought I wouldn't make it to 18 because I had too many near-death experiences, so therefore, I didn't think at all I would make it to 18," Jackson said. "Like zero doubts."
Jackson is now 18 and about to graduate from George Washington High School, thanks to mentors like Antonio Patton, who runs "BarberShop Talks."
"I went to a party when I was 19 and didn't (metaphorically) leave until I was 39, and in those 20 years, I became an alcoholic. I became an addict," Patton said.
The talks are a space for teens to listen and have real talk.
"Nowadays, it's a lot of gun violence out here and a lot of bad things happen, and you know, as a Black man, we're like the number one target," George Washington High School senior David Leye said.
But the violence may not stop there.
"Sometimes, there's a sense of fear. Sometimes, we're on edge because we don't know if the enemy is coming into the church. We don't know if they're bringing guns into the church," Webster said.
It's something the teens in Patton's group are hoping their peers avoid.
"Just like my dad tells me, like always live a positive life. Don't do negative things because negative things can lead to negative outcomes," Leye said.
"Find God. That's the only thing you can do because He helps you with every problem in your life," Jackson said. "Like He really works in mysterious ways."
The group is providing mentors to help youth succeed.
"If we reach one, it can change a household. It can change a community," Webster said.