Nashville has seen 11 homicides in the month of December alone and has surpassed last year’s totals with four days left to go.
Of those deaths, three victims were aged 19 or under, and seven of the murders remain unsolved.
Community members held a meeting at McNairy Hill United Primitive Baptist Church Tuesday night to call for an end to gun violence across the city.
Earl Jordan with Partners in the Struggle hosted the meeting.
Jordan believes it is up to African-American leaders in the community to unite to fight the violence until it stops.
Three of the victims this year have been teenagers. Two played football at White’s Creek High School.
Ricky Hambrick, 16, was shot and killed in the Bordeaux area on Dec. 20. There has been no arrest in his case.
The other, 18-year-old Hoigo Lyles, was found shot to death behind an apartment complex in Madison on Dec. 3. Tyrus Ward and Ian Phillips coached both boys at White’s Creek.
So far in 2016, there have been 83 homicides, surpassing a total of 79 for 2015.
Anyone with information about the unsolved murders in Nashville should call Crime Stoppers at 615-74-CRIME.
