23-04-2025
Our View: Help stop city's cycle of violence
One group of acquaintances with Anderson connections has been devastated by murders.
In particular, what should have been a high point of Ty Willis' high school basketball career was transformed by tragedy.
In 2022, the Anderson High School Indians celebrated their first Madison County basketball title since 2014. Willis, who was named The Herald Bulletin's Basketball Athlete of the Year, dedicated his game to Devin Swain and Swain's cousin, Courtney Cox.
Swain was murdered at a family gathering on New Year's Eve 2021. Cox died in October 2021 when she was shot by her boyfriend in Atlanta, Georgia. The boyfriend then died in a shootout with police.
But the trail of tragedies had not reached its end.
In February, a sister of Devin Swain — 26-year-old mother of two Dayla Swain — was shot to death in Anderson as she stood by a car talking to a witness in yet another murder. Dayla was most likely an innocent bystander.
The witness was not killed in the February attack. Four young males have been charged in connection to the fatal shooting. One of them is allegedly a member of a Chicago-based crime gang.
This insanity is traumatic.
The cycle of violence not only destroys families but reaches like venomous tentacles into their communities and, in a larger sense, across the city of Anderson, which struggles against its reputation for violent crime.
Thankfully, Anderson police and the Madison County Prosecutor's Office are working diligently and with focus in making arrests in these crimes.
But those agencies find themselves far too often working in reaction to fatal shootings.
Last September, an otherwise well-meaning but disorganized group sponsored a west side block party. After the party, some hangers-on were involved in a shooting that injured eight people.
A moment for peace turned disastrous.
With the threat of being shot, some folks are hesitant to 'work' with police or even acknowledge that they witnessed a crime.
It is up to Anderson families to take control of this nightmare.
Look around the community and see if there is a social challenge affecting residents that could use your help to resolve.
Address the problem by establishing positive relationships with neighbors.
Consider cleaning up trashy streets and parks. Make a home with strong morals, perhaps faith-based guidance. Raise children with clear anti-violence principles. Talk frequently with your kids to keep open communication. Ask them if they feel bullied, particularly in regard to joining gangs.
Parents know the basics. Let's not just rely on law enforcement to react to crime. Now is the time for parents and relatives to instill concepts of right and practice, as they say, what we preach to our children.
It might impede a cycle of violence that is on our doorstep and harming us all.
