The Columbus area has been plagued with violence over the past few years with a homicide total reaching 70 in 2021 after a gang war in the area. In 2023, there were a total of 57 homicides in the Columbus area, according to a list compiled by the Ledger-Enquirer .
So far this year there have been five homicides in January 2024, according to a Ledger-Enquirer count .
Groups have sprung up in the area to help address the violence throughout the community. One such group helping to address violence in Columbus is Cure Violence Columbus.
Cure Violence Columbus started in 2021 in a year when homicides reached a peak. The group, based on a national model first established in a Chicago neighborhood in 2000, treats violence like an epidemic that requires a concentration of resources to address.
Kenyada McKenzie is familiar with violence having grown up in the Columbus area. As a teenager, she became familiar with the criminal justice system after being sentenced to prison.
“After being sentenced and doing time in prison I realized that giving back to the streets and stopping somebody else’s child from going down the road that I had to go down was imperative to me,” said McKenzie.