CLEVELAND, Ohio — So many in Cleveland's Union-Miles Park neighborhood are shaken by the senseless death of 18-year-old Jamarion Smith. The Bedford teen was fatally shot while leaving the Earle B. Turner Recreation Center just before 7 p.m. on Tuesday evening.
Police said Smith was found in the parking lot with multiple gunshot wounds.
"I thought about my child, because my kids stay up the street. My nieces and nephews stay down the street, so its very hard to even think about," John Traylor said.
Traylor is especially familiar with the gun violence plaguing the streets of Cleveland. He was shot in the head as a teenager about 20 years ago on the city's west side.
"I was actually 19, so it's very hard for kids at that age to survive around inner-city Cleveland in these types of communities. That's because it's just poverty everywhere, everybody don't have anything and we all trying to get something," Traylor said.
It's been a long road to recovery for him, with the Turner Recreation Center helping him along the way.
He calls it a foundation in the neighborhood, a safe place for families, full of people who genuinely care.
"A lot of these volunteers that's up here, they do it out of their hearts, out of love because they were right here too. A lot of us grew up in this community, 114th, 112th all up Miles," Traylor added.
He hopes this tragic incident doesn't outweigh all the good the rec center stands for and is encouraging more people to get involved to make a positive impact.
"The kids don't have any type of guidance these days. You got parents that's not in the kid's life, then you got grandparents that's not in the parent's life to be in the kid's life, so it's a like cycle that's never-ending," Traylor said. "So first thing we've got to do is break the circle by starting with the kids that's left right here, we've got to build them up."
Police said the suspect is a male who was wearing a black hoodie and ski mask. He allegedly fled on foot following the shooting.
Anyone with information on the shooting is asked to contact Cleveland Division of Police homicide investigators at 216-623-5464. Anonymous information can be provided to Crimestoppers at 216-25-CRIME. A cash reward of up to $5,000 may be available for information leading to the arrest of the suspect.
Anonymous information can be provided to Crimestoppers at 216-25-CRIME. A cash reward of up to $5,000 may be available for information leading to the arrest of the suspect.