A teenager from DeSoto was the 90th Dallas murder victim in 2019, when he was shot just after midnight Tuesday morning in downtown Dallas.
Leroy Hawkins, 17, had several bullet wounds when he was found in the passenger seat of a car in a parking lot on Akard Street. He died later at a hospital.[[510862391,R,250,294]]
This was one of four shootings that each left a teenager dead in Dallas within the past five days.
An 18-year-old, identified as Kenaijae Keon Anderson, was arrested and faces a murder charge, police said Thursday morning. He admitted to the killing in an interview with detectives, police said.
Lifelong friend Champ Mathis said he and Hawkins had just graduated from DeSoto High School. They played high school football and Hawkins had a full scholarship to play in college at Jackson State University in Mississippi.[[510914781,C]]
"He's got the biggest smile in the room. Lights it up. Have fun with him. He talks to you, encourages you. And he had a bright future ahead of him," Mathis said.
Mathis did not know why Hawkins was in Dallas Monday night, but he said DeSoto young people have heard about the recent spike in violent Dallas crime.
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"We're aware of it, and it needs to stop," Mathis said. "We should be able to go out and have fun with our friends and go home to our loved ones, knowing that there won't be any issues."
Forty Dallas murders in the month of May was the most in a single month since the 1990s.
Dallas Police Chief U. Renee Hall has been assuring residents that police are taking the spike in crime seriously with many special efforts to fight back. Extra detectives have been added to the homicide squad, but the Dallas Police Department is about 700 officers smaller than it was at the peak in 2011. Police union leaders said any transfers move officers from other places where they are needed.
At a press conference Monday, Hall said she was also pushing social programs to help reduce the root causes of crime.
"The police department is not able to arrest our way out of this. There are socio-economic issues related to crime in this city. There are individuals who have returned from prison who cannot find a job, who are not educated. So in those instances, those individuals are forced to commit violent acts," Hall said Monday.
There was immediate criticism of Hall's comments on social media from police groups. Hall later issued a statement clarifying her remarks.
"There is no excuse for crime. Crime in general however, is on the rise in Dallas for many reasons. One of them being a lack of resources and opportunity," the statement said.
Hall asked faith leaders to develop ways to teach people how to resolve disputes without resorting to violence and to find opportunities without resorting to crime.
Reverend Michael Waters, Senior Pastor at Joy Tabernacle AME Church in Dallas, praised Hall's approach.
"I think it's important to open our eyes to the years of racialized policies," Waters said. "We need programs that support and uplift the members of our community; that provide them with opportunity to provide for themselves and their families and become productive and contributing members of our city."
George Aranda, Dallas Chapter President of the National Latino Law Enforcement Organization, said he found the chief's remarks offensive.
"We don't make excuses for crime. We tackle it. We always tackle it. I've been on 27 years and we find ways to bring crime down," Aranda said.
The union leader said he has text messages from people who are worried about their safety going to the State Fair of Texas this year after three recent murders in the Dallas Fair Park area.
Hall said Monday that a summer crime initiative to combat the situation had already begun. But Aranda said union leaders have not been told what officers are being used.
He said criminals have noticed the shortage of police officers.
"They know that we don't have enough people out there, so those individuals are taking advantage of the system," Aranda said. "We don't know what the crime initiative is going to be. There's little to no communication going on."
DeSoto High School football coach Claude Mathis said people must take responsibility for their actions.
"It falls on us as well. We have to make the right choices in life and the choices some of those people are making right now are not very good," he said.
