Latest news with #LouisD.BrownPeaceInstitute
Boston Globe
26-05-2025
- Boston Globe
Chelsea youth violence: How a mother's effort to protect her son ended in tragedy
Juan's killing and other recent incidents of youth violence have reopened wounds in Chelsea, a place where young people are becoming victims of violent crime in numbers not seen in more than a decade. Chelsea officials said they are working urgently to protect the city's kids, with weekly interagency meetings where police, public health, and Youth violence isn't new for many families in Chelsea. Members of the international street gang Advertisement But the city is much more than its history of violence. It is a Advertisement The Tobin Bridge loomed over Broadway in Chelsea in 2020. Craig F. Walker/Globe Staff It's a community worth protecting, say community leaders who seek to thwart the return of past levels of violence. 'There are kids that are either gang involved or being Efforts to reach young people like Juan Carlos. It has been two months since that chilly evening when he didn't come home; that night, when Lemus learned in the Chelsea police station that her son was dead. On a recent morning, she sat with a caseworker from Dorchester's Louis D. Brown Peace Institute, mustering the strength to talk about her son. She clasped a framed photograph of Juan Carlos to her knees; when she tried to speak, her voice caught in her throat. 'I brought him over here so he wouldn't face the violence in El Salvador,' Lemus said. But violence found them, as it has found other young people in Chelsea in recent years, even as overall violent crime has dropped since the mid-2010s. There were 67 violent crimes reported against people 18 or younger in 2023, a 45 percent increase over the previous year. Those crimes dropped last year but spiked again in the first four months of 2025. This year, more than half of those victims are 15 or younger, including a friend of Juan Carlos who was stabbed in the same incident but survived. Advertisement This is the story of one mother who tried, but couldn't escape that violence. In 2007, Juan Carlos was born in an Iowa hospital — Lemus said she was there on vacation, but fell ill and was unable to fly back before giving birth. Eventually, they returned to El Salvador, where violence had already torn her family apart. Her mother and her brother had been killed when she was four years old, during the country's civil war, and the father of her oldest son was also slain before Juan Carlos was born. Lemus said she never learned who killed them. At that time, San Salvador, the capital city where they lived, was no place to raise a child, she said. So when Juan Carlos was seven, they immigrated to Chelsea, where her sister lived. In 2015, the year they came here, the collapse of a truce between MS-13 and rival gang Barrio 18 led to a massive spike in homicides in El Salvador, giving the country the . Advertisement Many Salvadorans immigrated to the U.S. to escape the gangs. But the effects of the violence often stayed with them. 'As young people come from Central America, they often come from incredibly difficult circumstances,' said Ron Schmidt, a Chelsea Public Schools administrator who runs an outreach program for at-risk students. 'They have been through significant trauma.' Lemus believed she had left all that behind. Juan Carlos attended elementary school in Chelsea before the family moved to Everett in 2017. He was a sharp, well-behaved kid, and Lemus said she tried to protect him. Juan Carlos never saw or experienced violence at home, she said. 'My house was full of values, honor, and respect,' she said. But at school, Juan Carlos was beyond her protection. Other students subjected him to intense bullying once he reached middle school, his mother said. For Lemus, who wanted more than anything to help, it was wrenching to watch. Juan Carlos would bottle up his emotions, then explode crying; he told one therapist he might be better off dead. 'After that, he was never the same,' Lemus said. 'He always had a dark stare.' Lemus, 44, is soft-spoken, obviously shaken. She works at a check cashing business in Chelsea. She had meetings with police officers and the principal of Juan Carlos's middle school, asking them to step in, she said, but the bullying continued. She could feel it slipping — her dream of a safer life for her son, the reason they had traveled so far from her home. Advertisement In 2022, Juan Carlos was walking near the George Keverian School in Everett when he got into a fight with a classmate. According to court filings, the dispute was over a girl. Lemus's classmate told police he told Lemus to stop bothering a friend of his, after which Lemus grabbed him. The classmate ran home and told his father, 45-year-old Mark Luiso, that Juan Carlos had threatened him, according to court records. Luiso, a licensed gun owner who worked as a security guard, armed himself and went to confront Juan Carlos. There was a struggle, and Juan Carlos fatally stabbed Luiso. Police found a large knife at the scene. The Luiso family was shattered, and the Lemus family uprooted. They moved from Everett back to Chelsea, where Juan Carlos initially attended Chelsea High School before switching to an alternative remote learning program. Last year, Middlesex prosecutors charged Juan Carlos with manslaughter as an adult. He was released pending trial, but was ordered to abide by a nightly curfew and stay out of Everett. The case was dismissed after his death. Luiso's family did not respond to requests for comment. Lemus would not discuss the stabbing for this story. It was a painful memory, she said, one she did not wish to revisit. Chelsea officials said they are working hard to prevent youth violence, and spare other families the pain experienced by Lemus and the Luisos. Roca, a Advertisement At-risk youth — suffering from trauma or at the center of urban violence — attended a personal finance class in a program hosted by the nonprofit Roca in Chelsea in 2021. Lane Turner/Globe Staff The city is dedicated to supporting young people, said Chelsea Police Chief Keith Houghton. But gangs are replenishing their numbers by recruiting from younger and younger kids, and low-level violence can escalate if not interrupted, he said. 'It will start with fist fights after school. Eventually, it'll go to bats or any object they have. Then it'll go to knives, and that's where we'll have the stabbings. And eventually they do get firearms,' Houghton said. City Council President Norieliz DeJesus said there is an urgent need to reach the city's middle school-aged children before they become victims or perpetrators of violence. 'We're not tailoring the programs to really engage that generation,' said DeJesus. 'And that's the generation that's running around with guns.' The day before Juan Carlos died, Flor could sense something was wrong. He seemed saddened, upset in ways unexplained by any normal shift in teenage mood. She recalled trying to get him to open up, asking what was wrong. 'Why are you asking me?' he challenged. 'Because I can see it in your face,' she said. 'Something's going on.' Crime scene tape remained tied to a signpost in Chelsea the day after the stabbing that killed Juan Carlos on March 9. Jessica Rinaldi/Globe Staff His response was vague, but troubling. There were people who wanted to inflict harm, he explained; there were others who could not have the tools to defend themselves because it was illegal. Lemus tried to make sense of what he was saying. In an attempt to cheer Juan Carlos up, she took him to Burger King. It had always been his favorite. The next day, Lemus left the house to go to work. When she returned, Juan Carlos wasn't home, so she texted him, asking where he was; he said he was going to a friend's house. She told him to be careful and come home early. The clock passed 7 p.m., then 8. He stopped responding to texts. A growing fear anchored itself into her mind, but she pushed it back, clinging to the hope that he would show up at the door. By 10, she could no longer take the anxiety and ran into the street to look for him. As she searched, her phone rang. It was the police. 'Are you the mother of Juan Carlos?' the officer asked. She said yes, and the officer told her to head to the police station, but did not tell her why. Her mind raced, grasping for explanations that would allow her to see her son again. When she arrived, the police told her the crushing truth: her son was gone. 'To this day, I can't believe this happened. This has been so hard,' Lemus said, her voice breaking. 'The short life he lived — the people bullying him and doing him wrong.' No one has been arrested for his killing. When Lemus is asked to think of her son in better times, she pauses. A memory comes to her — a trip they took to Miami with her sister in 2016. Juan Carlos, nine years old, spending hours building castles in the sand. He had so little pain and so much promise. Dan Glaun can be reached at
Yahoo
11-05-2025
- Yahoo
Thousands join annual Mother's Day walk for peace, tradition grew out of killing of boy in 1993
Carmen Wilkinson spent Mother's Day in a way she probably never imagined -- as a participant in the annual Mother's Day Walk for Peace. Wilkinson lost her daughter Taylor, a Fisher College student, last January when she was killed by an alleged hit-and-run driver while crossing a street in Roxbury. 'I really miss my daughter,' she said. 'She was only twenty years old. I will be strong for her. She is in my heart.' Wilkinson joined thousands of others on Town Field in Dorchester to begin the 3.2-mile walk. It is the 29th time for the Mother's Day tradition -- and grew out of the shooting death of Louis D. Brown, a fifteen-year-old gunned down in gang crossfire 32 years ago. Ironically, Brown was en route to a Teens Against Gang Violence holiday party when he was killed. Shortly after, his mother, Clementina Chery, founded the Louis D. Brown Peace Institute --- and then, a year later, the Mother's Walk, which honors homicide victims and provides solace to their survivors. 'In the best of times, in the worst of times, we rise and say, you are not alone and we are with you,' Chery said. Among the participants, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu, who just became a Mom for the third time. 'Every year we start our Mother's Day walking alongside the mothers who have experienced unthinkable loss,' Wu said. 'But have worked to turn that pain into peace for the entire community.' But make no mistake, the pain is still there. 'When one of the songs was playing, I was dancing,' said Janice Johnson. 'But I was crying at the same time.' Johnson was crying over the death of her son, killed in a case of motor vehicle homicide about two years ago. She has mixed feelings about the Mother's Day Walk -- because losses keep happening. 'Why?' she said. 'Why are there so many faces, why are there so many homicides... why are there so many causes of losing our children?' This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available. Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW
Boston Globe
10-05-2025
- Boston Globe
Their children have died, their motherhood remains
These mothers walk, grieve, celebrate, and uplift each other during the yearly walk through Dorchester on a day that is tremendously difficult for those who have lost a child. Chaplain Clementina Chéry placed her hand against a Traveling Memorial banner that hangs inside the Louis D. Brown Peace Institute in Dorchester. After Chéry lost her son Louis D. Brown in 1993, she started to make buttons for other victims' families as a way to cope with her son's death and to recognize the other families in her situation and make them feel less alone. Jessica Rinaldi/Globe Staff Chaplain Clementina Chéry Chaplain Clementina Chéry cofounded the Louis D. Brown Peace Institute after her son Louis David Brown was killed while heading to a Teens Against Gang Violence meeting. Louis was supposed to call his mother when he got to the meeting, but the call never came. He was struck by crossfire. The day Louis died, changed Chéry forever. Advertisement 'I say, the day Louis died, is the day I woke up,' Chéry said. 'Why are we OK when this happens to Black and brown children?' A year after Louis's death, Chéry cofounded the Peace Institute to honor her son and help other families deal with the trauma and grief associated with the killing of a loved one. Chaplain Clementina M. Chéry (center) who cofounded the Louis D. Brown Peace Institute in 1994 after the death of her 15-year-old son Louis, led the Mother's Day Walk for Peace in 2022. Jessica Rinaldi/Globe Staff 'Many times, what we tend to do, is we want to shame mothers for grieving. No. Grief is just how much we loved the person who is no longer here,' she said. Advertisement In 1996, Chéry and a small group did the first peace walk on Mother's Day, connecting mothers who had lost a child. This year will be the 29th walk. Even in death, Chéry is grateful to Louis and her two other children for being her best teacher. 'Louis wasn't my son, he is my son,' she said. Chéry still does not know who killed her son. The Louis D. Brown Peace Institute has been serving the Boston community for over 30 years. The group has recently gotten plans approved to open a three-story center in Dorchester. LaToya Minus held hands with her 3-year-old granddaughter, Dai'Lani Jenkins-Minus, as the two visited the grave of Dai'Lani's mother in Roslindale. Dai'Lani was only 2 months old when her mother was killed. 'I still have to explain it to the 3-year-old as she gets older. She has no idea what's going on around that," Minus said of the difficult conversation that she will some day have to have with the child she is now raising as her own. Jessica Rinaldi/Globe Staff LaToya Minus LaToya Minus was making Thanksgiving dinner in 2021, waiting for her daughter Dejah Nichole Jenkins-Minus to arrive. The family dinner never took place. Instead, she received the news that her daughter was found dead, allegedly the victim of domestic violence. Leaving Minus without her eldest daughter thrust her into becoming the mother to Dejah's 2-month-old daughter, Dai'Lani, who reminds her of Dejah more and more every day. Minus says chasing Dai'Lani around keeps her going but it's the inevitable conversation about Dejah that weighs heavily on her. LaToya Minus displayed the memorial tattoo of her late daughter, Dejah Jenkins-Minus. Jessica Rinaldi/Globe Staff 'I feel like the worst is yet to come,' she said. 'I still have to explain to the 3-year-old what happened to her mother.' Minus said a trial in her daughter's death is set to begin in July. Last year, the Boston City Council declared May 13 as 'Maé Day' in memory of Dejah. Minus affectionately called her 'Maé' because, she said, Dejah acted like a little old lady. Kianna Battle in the bedroom of her late son, Kamari Perry, inside the apartment they shared in Weymouth. Kamari, a basketball star, beloved by his friends and family, was killed in a vehicular homicide when he was 16 years old in 2023. Jessica Rinaldi/Globe Staff Kianna Battle Kianna Battle lost more than her son on July 14, 2023. She lost her best friend, her everything, when Kamari Aaron Perry, 16, was hit by a car while on a scooter. Advertisement Perry wanted to be a basketball player. Battle says Kamari still receives college basketball recruiting letters. 'My son was so giving of himself to his peers. I've been trying to follow in his footsteps and give back myself,' Battle said. 'I'm just trying to turn my pain into purpose.' Kianna Battle opened the blinds in the room of her late son, Kamari, at the apartment they shared in Weymouth. She has started a basketball tournament in his memory and is working on starting a foundation to help keep his legacy alive. Jessica Rinaldi/Globe Staff Battle recently organized a basketball tournament in memory of Kamari called Mari's World Heart of Hope, where she was able to give away a $5,000 scholarship. This will be Battle's second year participating in the Peace Walk. She says the walk does bring sad memories but also serves as a way to uplift each other. 'We're all a part of a club we don't want to be a part of,' she said. 'But it's uplifting because we're there for each other, we uplift each other, we hold each other when we hold this walk and we come together as one.' Tears streamed down Beatriz Couho's face as she talked about her late son, Joel Leon, at her apartment in Quincy. He was fatally shot in South Boston on April 9, 2014. His killing is still unsolved. 'No mother, no father, grandmother, brother, sister, nobody who loves someone needs this kind of feeling. A mother is a mother and the pain is there every single day, we have to try to live with that. It is every single day, it is not a week or month. It is every single day," Couho said. Jessica Rinaldi/Globe Staff Beatriz Couho It was Friday during Lent and like many Catholics, the Couho family had to refrain from eating red meat. But on this particular Friday in 2014, it was the baby of the family's birthday. Joel Santiago Leon Couho was turning 19 and he was sick of eating fish every Friday. After promising his mother, Beatriz Couho, he would go to church if she made him steak, the family delighted in eating their food and poking fun at Beatriz for breaking the rules. It was a perfect day. Three days later, the family would be rocked by the sudden death of Joel who was hit by a lone bullet that came into his car and struck him in the neck. Advertisement Couho had brought Joel from Mexico when he was 2 months old. He was with her throughout the entire journey to the United States and just like that he was gone. Beatriz Couho placed her hand against a statue of St. Joseph after lighting a candle in memory of her son inside St. Francis Chapel in Boston. Jessica Rinaldi/Globe Staff 'I learn to live, I learn how to live with this, and it took me 10 years to put myself together, and start to do things for people,' she said. 'Some days I'm down, some days I'm up, but I learned to live and that new process in my life.' Beatriz Couho works on an initiative of the Louis D. Brown Peace Institute called 'Pan con Café,' where she works with Spanish speakers dealing with the death of loved ones due to homicide, overdose, and suicide. Randy Vazquez can be reached at
Yahoo
14-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Mass. families call for change in handling of cold cases
At the State House, a call for justice for the families of unsolved murder victims. Boston's Louis D. Brown Peace Institute is calling for major changes in the way law enforcement handles cold case investigations. Soon families will appeal to lawmakers with one simple message: unsolved cases deserve a second chance. At the State House, the families of murder victims whose cases have gone unsolved, share unbearable pain. 'If I can't have my son back, at least I want it to be solved. And I don't want no one else's family to have to go through this,' Relonda Ballard, mother of murder victim David Ballard said. 'I lost my only child to gun violence in January 2008, at the age of 18, and his case remains unsolved to this day, 17 years later,' Natasha Carrington said. She is the mother of Boston murder victim Darrion Carrington. Boston 25 Reporter Bob Ward profiled his case on New England's Unsolved last September. Natasha is pushing for passage of a new bill that would keep open the line of communication between families and law enforcement 'For those of us, like me, who never see the inside of a courtroom, or never saw your loved ones case investigated, our grief is heavy,' Carrington said. The Louis D. Brown Peace Institute is behind a bill that calls for the Attorney General, not district attorneys, to review unsolved murder cases after three years. Alexis Smith lost her son in 2017. 'We need that bill because we care about each other. There are so many people impacted by this loss that are struggling with continuing their education, their mental health isn't good, and when we get justice, it begins the healing process,' Smith said. The bill's backers point to research suggesting that homicide cases of black and brown people are more likely to grow cold, than when the murder victims are white. They believe regular review of cold cases can make a difference for everyone. 'Regardless of where you live, regardless where you are from, that your case is met with the same dignity and compassion,' Pace McConkie, Policy Director for the Louis D Brown Peace Initiative, said. This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available. Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts. Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW
Yahoo
09-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Final budget hearing features Amherst high schoolers
BOSTON (WWLP) – State lawmakers held their final fiscal year 2026 budget hearing, and it was the only one to accept testimony from non-experts, ranging from high schoolers to activists from communities across the Commonwealth. Each citizen who testified focused on advocating for their needs in the fiscal year 2026 budget and issues spanned from taxes to climate change to liberal arts education to food security. Some testified on matters of life and death. The mother of a 15-year-old who was killed in gang crossfire spoke on behalf of her organization that supports survivors of homicide victims, asking for more funding to continue their work. 'Families are still being devastated, homicide knows no boundaries, it knows no culture, no class, and no communities,' said Clementina Chéry, founder of the Louis D. Brown Peace Institute. She says this organization is especially crucial in the state's largest cities with the highest homicide rates, including Springfield and Holyoke. Others testified for education funding–Amherst high schoolers advocated for funding for electives and spoke about their important place in holistic growth. 'With budget cuts threatening the existence of electives, students are losing more than just classes. We are losing passion, motivation, and opportunities that could shape our futures,' said Amherst Regional High School Student Yatharth Rajakumar. Lawmakers have spoken publicly about challenges with forming this year's budget due to uncertainty about federal funding, and it is likely very few budget items will receive the full scope of money they are requesting. The House plans to release its version of the fiscal year 2026 budget next week, and the Senate will follow suit shortly after. WWLP-22News, an NBC affiliate, began broadcasting in March 1953 to provide local news, network, syndicated, and local programming to western Massachusetts. Watch the 22News Digital Edition weekdays at 4 p.m. on Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
