By Dr. Jessica Johnson
Guest Column
During my three-day commute to work in Lima, on U.S. 33 West, I pass a sign designed by GospelBillboards.org that reads “Abandon VIOLENCE. Choose life in JESUS.”
I reflected on its message more intensely this week after following the news stories of the tragic April 15 Dadeville, Alabama, shooting at a Sweet 16 birthday party that left four young people dead and 32 wounded. Dadeville, with a population just over 3,000 in Tallapoosa County, is a place where “everybody knows everybody,” as the city’s high school football chaplain, Ben Hayes, stated in a CNN interview.
Reading about the victims’ life aspirations is heartbreaking, as three would have been heading off to college next fall. Marsiah Collins, an aspiring 19-year-old musician, was planning to continue his education at Louisiana State University. Collins was killed along with his best friend, Philstavious Dowdell, 18, who had a scholarship to play football at Jacksonville State University. Dowdell was the older brother of the party honoree, Alexis Dowdell. Keke Smith, a 17-year-old high school senior, was set to attend the University of Alabama.
Six suspects in the shooting have been arrested, with the youngest being just 15. The five whose identities have been released to the public are young Black males. With the victims also being Black, the Dadeville shooting becomes another disturbing Black-on-Black homicide statistic.
Viewing the mug shots of the suspects, I kept wondering what caused them to choose a life of violence. Two are brothers who are minors and should still be in high school. They will be tried as adults, and all six will be charged with four counts of reckless murder, which comes with a minimum sentence of 10 years up to life in prison.
Some mental health experts have begun discussing the lasting, lifelong effects of gun violence on a small city like Dadeville, and the closeness of the community places a heavy weight of grief on everyone.
When more information comes out on the backstories of the suspects, we will be able to determine the trajectory that placed them on a path leading up to such savage bloodshed. The circumstances that negatively impacted them could possibly be linked to the familiar social ills mentioned in psychological studies on Black males and gun violence that include poverty, deficient education and fatherless homes.
Four of the Dadeville suspects are from Tuskegee, which has an African American poverty rate of 25.2%. The other two are from Auburn, where nearly 30% of Blacks are poor. There have also been urgent calls for homicide prevention centers in African American communities that would provide treatment for troubled youth. The Dadeville suspects are definitely troubled, and more than likely they exhibited patterns of violent behavior in school and at home that got out of control.
Dadeville youth have access to a crime prevention program that is sponsored by the Tallapoosa County Sheriff’s Office. Conflict resolution and gang awareness are two primary areas of focus for school children, and in the wake of last week’s shooting, hopefully more community organizations and churches will get involved.
Hayes, the Dadeville football chaplain, is also a pastor who knew many of the students attending the party, and he will probably be significantly involved in the counseling services that will be provided to them. I’m sure his church will be a strong pillar of support as well, and in this time of tremendous sorrow people need to be encouraged that there is still hope and comfort in God.
Troubled young men who are heading down a similar path of the Dadeville shooting suspects need strong male role models like Pastor Hayes to guide them and instill godly character and values. They need to know, as Jeremiah 29:11 says, that God has a plan for their futures.
I’m certain that if someone asked the suspects what they wanted out of life they would find these young men probably had similar goals as their victims. Perhaps one of them wanted to play college football like Philstavious or explore music like Marsiah. Something drastic obviously happened to cause them to become so angry and resentful that they would attempt to kill so many at a birthday party.
As Dadeville begins to heal from this tragedy, we continue to pray for the victims and their families. We also need to pray for the shooting suspects. They will be rightfully punished to the extent of the law, but if they make the choice to abandon violence and choose Christ as the billboard sign urges, salvation will deliver them from whatever has plagued their lives.
Dr. Jessica A. Johnson is a lecturer in the English department at The Ohio State University-Lima. Reach her at [email protected] or on Twitter @JjSmojc. Her opinion does not necessarily represent the views of The Lima News or its owner, AIM Media.
