PORTSMOUTH, Va. — A girl is injured after she was stabbed overnight in Portsmouth, according to police.
Just after 1 a.m. on Tuesday, officers responded to a domestic dispute in the 200 block of Dale Drive, police say. There, officers found a girl who had been stabbed.
Darrell Redmond is a Portsmouth native and an activist. He says he's devastated by these recent acts of violence involving kids, particularly the death of ten-year-old Keontre Thornhill whom he knew personally and mentored.
On April 26th, Thornhill was shot and killed by a stray bullet after opening his bedroom window.
"Its heartbreaking," said Redmond. "At first, I had no idea that it was someone that I knew personally, someone's family that I know personally."
He thinks there are a few solutions to youth violence.
Portsmouth
Portsmouth family lays to rest 10-year-old killed by a stray bullet
"We have to have prevention, intervention and enforcement," said Redmond.
Redmond thinks the kids in the city also need to be more involved in activities that will deter them from going down the wrong road.
"If you go into a high-end community, they'll have a YMCA that has all the amenities, but an impoverished low-income community might not," said Redmond. "It needs to be equal."
Olivia Smithberger the executive director of the HER shelter in Portsmouth says the impact of a domestic dispute inside a home can be traumatizing and can take a long time to heal from.
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"I think it affects children on multiple levels, witnessing it, experiencing it, having trauma that is affecting their ability to deal with the things that are happening in their lives," said Smithberger.
Redmond says he wants to encourage the city to recognize and resolve that kind of pain.
He plans to go in front of the city council next week to voice his concerns and possible solutions.
