Baltimore Mayor Jack Young says he doesn't believe city leadership is to blame as Baltimore approaches 300 homicides for the fifth year in a row. Young’s comments were came during his weekly news conference Wednesday as a response to criticism of city leadership regarding crime. Mayor Young was responding to criticism from the CEO of the "Y of Central Maryland" after one of the organization's coaches was murdered last week. "Y" CEO John Hoey said in an editorial following the home invasion murder of 31-year-old coach Jordan Taylor there has been a "crisis of leadership" in the city and there must be more urgency to fight crime.
Hoey also says there needs to be more urgency in addressing violent crime. A funeral for Taylor will be held Thursday. The ATF is offering a reward of five-thousand-dollars for information in the case. The mayor said neither he, the police commissioner, or city council are committing the murders, so how can the blame be put on leadership.
As of Thursday morning, the city reached the 300 homicide mark for 2019 a man and woman being shot and killed in Southwest Baltimore at McHenry and Monroe Streets around 3 a.m. Another man was fatally wounded Wednesday night. A 17 year boy was shot in the head Wednesday afternoon in the 2800 block of west Lanvale Street. He was rushed to shock trauma, but would not survive his injuries.
Many are disagreeing with Mayor Young’s assessment that leadership doesn’t have a role in crime reduction. Among the critics is City Council President Brandon Scott , who’s among a dozen challengers Young faces in the 2020 mayor’s race. “Mr. Mayor, respectfully, this cannot be our response to the violence plaguing our city as elected leaders in Baltimore,” said Scott in a Facebook post. Scott says city council members have yet to receive the Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice comprehensive violence reduction plan that was promised in July, but looks forward to learning about the progress that's been made on the creation of a that plan Tuesday at 4 p.m. in the public safety committee, when they will be discussing this very topic.