CLEVELAND — Some are just old enough to drive, still in grade school or even younger.
Children and teenagers touched by violent crime with a gun.
One mother in Elyria lost her 14-year-old son last month when bullets pierced her home.
Two suspects, who are now facing charges, are just a few years older.
But a recent meeting with other moms could help keep the violence from impacting even more families.
It may be impossible to measure the kind of pain for a mother or father in burying a child.
"We try to console them. We put our arms around them,'' said Laura Irvin with Moms Demand Action Lorain County Chapter.
Irvin did that for Shayne Edwards’ mom, Kristin.
The Elyria freshman never made it to school one early September morning.
Shayne was killed while in bed when bullets came through his house.
"I would imagine that Kristin's main chore every day is to remember to breathe,” said Irvin.
Irvin started the Moms Demand Action Lorain chapter nearly five years ago. She met with Kristin the morning before police announced arrests in her son’s case last week.
Two people, ages 16 and 18, are charged in the case. The youngest is facing a murder charge.
"Not only have we lost Shayne but we have two other people who have ruined their lives and one of the questions I would ask is where did they get that gun?” said Irvin.
In Cuyahoga County, statistics involving young people from the prosecutor’s office are not broken down by method, but most homicides in the county are committed with a firearm.
Just this year, there are 15 victims in cases where someone was either charged or not charged with ages ranging from infant to 17 years old.
Seven teens have been charged in homicide cases in 2022.
Last year, there were 11 teens charged and 12 young victims.
"I think if you've been doing this work, it's not surprising it is very alarming,” said Irvin.
Michelle Bell has also been fighting this battle for nearly four years when her son, 33-year-old Andre Brown, was shot and killed in February 2019 in Cleveland’s Collinwood neighborhood.
She started M-PAC Cleveland four months later.
"What can we do individually and collectively to make a change so that folks aren't feeling like they have to take another life because of some emotion that just got overwhelmed,” said Bell.
Bell also met with Kristin in Elyria after the September shooting brought back a flood of feelings from her son’s unsolved homicide.
"I said I still have hope,” said Bell. She says she felt an energy building by Kristin to turn her pain into a passion.
"She may not be there right at this moment, but I felt in that meeting that she wants to get there,” said Bell.
This summer, Cleveland saw a wave of violence with teens and guns and just last week some Cleveland teens made a pledge to prevent gun violence.
Irvin doesn’t see the deadly shooting of Shayne Edwards as a setback in her work.
"When I hear that, it encourages me more,” said Irvin.
It encourages Irvin to knock on more doors or make more calls and write letters.
"We're honoring Michelle Bell's, Andre Brown with action and also we will honor Shayne with action by going out into the community and talking about this,” said Irvin.
Irvin says Moms Demand Action has many different avenues for people who may be thinking about volunteering and that would include elections, legislative groups to testify for or against bills, and a Be Smart group for safe gun storage. They also have a survivors' network for self-care and support.
Bell says she’s also involved with Stop the Pain, a group that works with youth to give them alternative activities and help them understand that violence isn’t the answer to problems.
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