Meeting to be held against teen violence

MIAMI (WSVN) -- South Florida community leaders want to put a stop on violence against teenagers.

Local leaders, along with Miami-Dade School Superintendent Alberto Carvalho, are scheduled to meet Friday at Miami Senior High to discuss different ideas and ways to put an end to violence. "If the community in fact embraces this as its top priority, we can arrive at a solution," said Carvalho. "But this is not a solution that arrives solely by the school system, because most of the violent crimes take place after school."

The lives of nearly 100 students have been taken since 2009. Carvalho made a promise to pray with the parents of the victims. "We need to target what happens with kids after school, in the parks, on the streets," he said. "We need to provide mental heath opportunities and solutions for these kids," he continued.

Aaron Willis is paralyzed from the waist down. He survived a shooting last December. "I was on my way coming home and then I just heard gunshots and I fell off the bike," said Willis.

Carvalho said, after more than 40 funerals and viewings, he's tired and heartbroken that so many kids are being killed. "It's a lot of funerals, and I am tired of it," said Carvalho. "I'm tired, brokenhearted."

The meeting is scheduled for Friday at 3 p.m.

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