CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Taylor Smith, 14, on Monday became the fourth student killed in the Charlotte area this year.
Last month, a West Mecklenburg High School student was killed.
In February, someone shot and killed an East Mecklenburg High School student at a party and in January, a Kannapolis middle school student died when someone fired shots into a car.
Derrick Gates helps carve out a brighter future for teens, but even his efforts don’t always work.
“I really looked after this kid, led him in the right direction,” Gates said.
A teen he said he recently mentored, Israel Williams, 19, was found shot to death near Idlewild Elementary School in December.
“I wanted to see him move on, go to college, be successful,” he said.
Gates, who works for the Urban League of the Central Carolinas, said he is alarmed by number of local teens who have recently committed, or become victims of, violent crime.
This year, four students have been killed in the Charlotte area and state data shows the number of juveniles arrested for murder is up 47 percent between 2014 and 2015.
Gates leads a program that targets teens who have already had run ins with the juvenile justice system, but he wants all youth to watch the company they keep.
“Sometimes it’s all about making good choices of friends,” he said.
Shaun Corbett, of Cops and Barbers, travels to local schools with Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Kerr Putney. They share a similar message.
"The trouble we're seeing lately is from kids not having things to do,” Corbett said.
He said keeping teens out of harm’s way takes more than just programs and police.
“As a community, we have to get more involved in our kids extracurricular activities,” Corbett said.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg police are investigating three homicides in which students were the victims.
They are still looking to make arrests in two of those cases.