By J. K. Schmid
Special to the AFRO
Baltimore City crossed the 300 homicide threshold last week. The count is imprecise, but many accounts name 5-year-old Nivea Anderson the 300th victim of violence.
This is the seventh consecutive year Baltimore has counted more than 300 homicides.
Police say they found Nivea unresponsive in the 2800 block of Pelham Avenue. Medics transported her to Johns Hopkins Pediatrics where she was pronounced dead. Nivea had bruising on her face, a sign of abuse, police say.
Homicide detectives are in charge of investigating Nivea’s death, police say.
“I am outraged that Baltimore recorded its 300th homicide of the year tonight,” Mayor Brandon M. Scott said in a Wednesday statement. “This number provokes more than just pain and disappointment over the sheer loss of life. It forces us to think about the families and communities that will forever be impacted by this heinous cycle of violence.”
This release comes nine days after the Mayor announced the next steps of his new office: The Mayor’s Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement (MONSE). MONSE is asking for grant reviewers to investigate and evaluate grant requests for funding violence intervention programming.
“We lost friends and loved ones, and Baltimore cannot continue to be desensitized by their loss,” Mayor Scott continued in his statement. “Far too many interpersonal conflicts and domestic disputes are escalating into fatal violence. Failing to recognize the value of human life cannot continue to be the norm in Baltimore. This should anger all of us to do more so that our city can truly be more.”
MONSE focuses on Community Violence Intervention, Youth Justice, Community Healing, Victim Services, and Re-entry.
“Baltimore, we will be better and I will not rest until every neighborhood is safe,” the mayor said.
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