Missouri's Attorney General is renewing his call for stricter punishments for children in juvenile custody.
This comes after fights that left a Jennings student dead and a Hazelwood student in critical condition.
The Urban League of Metro St. Louis believes the crisis of violence can be lessened with the help of local churches targeting people at a young age. The group is calling for increased identifications of neighborhood conflicts and more resources deployed to those communities.
Meanwhile, Missouri's top attorney says he wants juveniles to be charged as adults if they commit adult crimes.
Thursday, James Clark the Vice President of the division of public safety at the Urban League in St. Louis held a 'Common Crisis, Common Ground' planning luncheon for spring and summer of 2024.
"It is clear that we are in crisis," Clark said.
Clark gathered dozens of pastors and a network of 75 resource providers for the event asking them to create programming for young people.
It took on a new tone in light of this weeks youth violence.
Clark addressed the ongoing problem of youth violence, including the fight that left 16-year-old Gain in critical condition and the fights that led to the stabbing death of Jennings 14-year-old Justin Brooks.
St. Louis County Police Sgt. Tracy Panus confirmed on Thursday afternoon the following at Jennings Junior High School:
"We have 3 SROs for the Jennings School District. They work closely with the district staff during their duties and stay after every day for at least an hour. They provide coverage daily after school has been dismissed and address issues as they arise. Our dismissal patrol in addition to the 3 SROs, includes Precinct Supervisors and available beat cars. Our SROs were on scene of the stabbing within seconds of it occurring and began to render aid to the victim. Unfortunately, his injuries were too serious and he passed," Panus said.
Additional video online showed Brooks during the moments he was stabbed and several students yelling, "he just stabbed him, he's going to die". 5 On Your Side is not showing that video because due to its disturbing nature.
"The biggest calls that we have in St. Louis right now is for us to focus on the conditions on our neighborhoods and the behavior of our young people," Clark said.
Clark said future generations are counting on leaders for help in time of need, he says those leaders have to be willing to step up to the plate.
Missouri Attorney General Andrew Bailey made his concerns heard with youth violence, specifically addressing the 15-year-old girl in juvenile custody for a fight in Hazelwood that left 16-year-old Kaylee Gain with severe brain injuries.
"What we see in the video is an attacker assailing a victim with the intent to cause serious physically injury. The attacker continues to bludgeon the victims' head against the hard pavement event after the attacker has rendered the victim incapable of fighting back and had opportunity to disengage from the fights," Bailey said.
There will likely a court hearing within the next few weeks to decide if the juvenile will be tried as an adult.
"There is no discretion that the court has to hold a certification hearing when you have teens who should know better who do know better and they're committing adult crimes. There needs to be adult punishments," Bailey said.
St. Louis County police are still looking for the people responsible for Brooks' death. As of Thursday, they didn't have anyone in custody.