PEORIA (25News Now) – Peoria County Coroner Jamie Harwood says for African American men aged 15 to 34 living in Peoria, homicide is the leading cause of death, but compared nationally, homicide for that same race and age group is third.
“This is a national health crisis; this is a local health crisis,” Harwood said.
The facts that Harwood presented are supported by the Center for Disease Control and the Peoria City/County Health Department.
There have been 21 homicides in the City of Peoria since the start of 2023. Thirteen of those were people between the ages 15 and 34, including 15-year-old Jabbarius Highsmith, who died over the weekend, and 20-year-old James Irby, who died Monday night.
“We’re on a trend right now. We’re obviously superseding national benchmarks when it comes to homicide data, particularly in our 15 to 34-year-old age group of men,” said Harwood.
Following homicide numbers in Peoria, the other two leading causes of death are suicide and overdoses.
“We’re looking at three types of deaths, tragic for this age group, that are preventable,” Harwood said.
He’s afraid that with the excessive violence and high homicide numbers, we’re losing our next generation.
“The talent, brilliance, and minds of these kids, who are going a different direction other than where their gifts and talents could lead them…we’re losing a generation of brilliant people,” said Harwood.
He says a majority of homicide victims are from the East Bluff and the South Side of Peoria, where access to housing, jobs, food, and transportation are all limited.
There are resources in those communities, for example, the East Bluff Community Center, that try its best to provide people with the necessary items.
“The unfortunate thing down here is that we don’t have a local grocery store, and a lot of folks that live in the East Bluff don’t have transportation; they don’t have ways to get places, so that’s why we provide the pantry here and it’s so vital to the East Bluff,” said Jenny Winne, the Executive Director of the East Bluff Community Center.
Harwood says we can’t forget how much of an impact those items have on the life or death of someone in our community.
“All of these things that seem minimal to people really play a role in the health of a community,” said Harwood. “The accessibility issues all play a role in what we’re seeing today with these homicide rates and particularly in this age group that we’re talking about, 15 to 34, it’s clearly a public health crisis that needs immediate attention.”
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