Daniel Ajayi said Wednesday night he becomes frustrated when he hears about the deaths of Columbus youth like 12-year-old Angel Salguero Diaz, whose shooting death Sunday was announced hours earlier.
Columbus police officers responding to a report of gunfire just after 10:15 p.m. Sunday found a mortally wounded Diaz in the 1300 block of East Hudson Street in the city’s Linden area. Medics arrived and pronounced him dead at 10:24 p.m. Detective Russ Weiner said the police homicide unit is working to piece together the events of the night using video footage, but did not have any suspects and no arrests had been made as of Wednesday.
“This is becoming absurd,” said Ajayi, who is vice chair of the North Linden Area Commission. “When I hear things like this, it breaks my heart. There needs to be major political will to confront this, whether it’s the restriction of firearms, something.
“The botom line is prevention.”
Mayor Andrew Ginther and officials with the Columbus Office of Violence Prevention (OVP) held a community conversation Wednesday at the Columbus Public Health auditorium to discuss what the city has been doing and plans to do in 2024 to help prevent violent crime. But they never mentioned the shooting death of Diaz, a student at Columbus City Schools, during the public meeting.
OVP touts events, announces $4.5 million for 2024 operating budget
Rather, city leaders touted a 57% decline in homicides in Columbus so far this year compared to 2023, the second largest drop in a major U.S. city, according to the Office of Violence Prevention. As of Tuesday, there were 22 homicides in Columbus in 2024, four of those in April.
While saying he was cautiously optimistic about the homicide figures, Ginther also told attendees that the decline shows the city’s strategies and emphasis on community engagement — particularly with Columbus youth — is working.
“Every young person needs to see themselves in the future of the city,” Ginther said.
The mayor departed immediately after speaking and was unavailable to answer questions about the 12-year-old’s death.
Yrik Sherfield, one of three community relations coordinators for OVP whose community area includes Linden, where Diaz’s body was found, declined to comment on the death of Diaz through the OVP’s public information officer.
Rena Shak, director of the OVF, said the agency’s first year in 2023 was spent reaching out to partners in the Columbus community who could collobrate and help the city with its goals to reduce violence. Among those partners is the Mothers Against Murdered Columbus Children, who were represented at Wednesday’s public meeting.
Shak said OVP’s goal in 2024 will be to engage with youth, formerly incarcerated adults and others and to connect them with resources. The OVP’s operating budget for 2024 has been increased by $3.5 million from last year to a total $4.5 million 20204.
The OVP also plans to continue to host events with the community to seek input to guide its efforts, Shak said, and will continue to host gun buyback programs with another planned this fall.
“We will never stop working with people who want to work with us to prevent violence,” Shak told the crowd.
After the meeting, Shak said she was personally unaware of the death of Diaz until being asked about it by The Dispatch. The death of any 12-year-old is always a tragedy, she said, adding that the OVP as well as the city must continue to invest in youth violence prevention.
smeighan@dispatch.com
@ShahidMeighan
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Hours after death of boy, 12, revealed, city touts drop in homicides