The frustration in Indianapolis police chief Chris Bailey’s voice was palpable as he spoke to media in the early morning hours of July 5. Hours after the Independence Day fireworks show, hundreds of unsupervised teens lingered around downtown, and the atmosphere was chaotic.
“I don’t know how many times I have to say it. We are not your children’s keepers. You are,” Bailey said. “And parents and guardians have got to step up.”
As police were in the process of breaking up a fight at around 1:30 a.m. on July 5, they heard gunfire from a mass shooting that killed Xavion Jackson, 16, and Azareaon S. Cole, 15. Two other teens and three adults were also injured.
On July 7, the Marion County Prosecutor’s Office announced charges against four teens who were found downtown with guns around the time of the shooting. None of the teens, who range in age from 13 to 17, have been accused of committing the shooting, but are charged with possessing guns under the age of 18.
That charge, known as “dangerous possession of a firearm,” is the most common charge filed in Marion County’s juvenile court. It’s increased dramatically in the last few years, Prosecutor Ryan Mears said. The eldest teen, who is being charged as an adult, already has a prior conviction for that charge.
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To Bailey, Indianapolis’ ongoing struggle with youth violence is at least in part due to guardians’ negligence.
“If I can convince the prosecutor to hold parents accountable, I’m gonna do that, too,” Bailey said on July 5.
Mears said more cases are expected to be filed in the coming days, and the possibility of cases against parents or guardians “will certainly be investigated.”
It’s not an entirely novel idea: in 2024, the parents of a Michigan school shooter were separately convicted of involuntary manslaughter, even though neither was directly involved in the killings.
Charges of that nature will likely require forensic analyses of phones and social media because investigators are looking for proof that parents knew or should have known their child had a gun.
Parents of the charged teens have not been “super cooperative in answering law enforcement questions,” according to Mears.
“It’s beyond ridiculous that a 13-year-old was walking around downtown with a gun,” Mears said.
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The city announced plans to enforce a youth curfew prohibiting teens between 15 and 17 from being unaccompanied in public between 11 p.m. and 5 a.m.
A similar plan was announced more than a year ago after a different downtown Indianapolis mass shooting wounded seven teens. In April 2024, a feud between teens escalated into a gunfight, shining a national spotlight on the city’s struggle to curb youth violence.
The results of that initiative are unclear. IndyStar has asked the city for the number of teens cited under the curfew over the past two years and has not yet received a response.
Ryan Murphy is the communities reporter for IndyStar. She can be reached at rhmurphy@indystar.com.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Could parents of Indianapolis teens involved in crime be charged? Maybe
Reporting by Ryan Murphy, Indianapolis Star / Indianapolis Star
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