Howard County launches new council to tackle youth violence
Howard County Executive Calvin Ball announced a new council on youth engagement and violence prevention.
Ball, on Monday, said there was an "urgent need" for a more proactive approach to preventing youth violence in the county. He hopes to address that need with the new Youth Engagement Strategies Council (YES).
"We were saying yes to unity, yes to action, and yes to creating a stronger, safer Howard County for all."
Recent incidents involving teens in Howard County have caused alarm for residents and local leaders.
Howard County grapples with youth violence
On Feb 22, a shooting near the Mall in Columbia left 16-year-old Michael Roberston dead, and a 15-year-old boy injured. Roberston was a sophomore at Wilde Lake High School, while the 15-year-old who was injured was a freshman at Oakland Mills High School.
An 18-year-old suspect, Emmetson Zeah, was arrested and charged with murder. Zeah was already facing charges for a previous attempted murder and had violated home monitoring conditions before the shooting.
Just months prior, another teen, 17-year-old Angelo Little, was shot and killed inside the same mall near the food court.
But the crimes involving youth suspects and victims in the county aren't unique to the Mall in Columbia.
In January, a 17-year-old boy was shot and killed in an attempted robbery in Columbia. Four suspects were arrested and charged in the incident.
In 2024, a 17-year-old student at Howard High School was arrested after being found with a loaded gun in his backpack. He was later charged with first-degree murder in connection to the death of Kendrick McLellan, 26, who was found shot in a car behind a Columbia office building.
After the incident, the Maryland school board raised concerns about school safety and communication gaps between Maryland's juvenile justice system and educational institutions.
Data shows an increase in crime
According to data from Howard County Police, homicides have been going up. In 2023, there were five homicides in the county, and in 2024, there were nine.
Overall, crime was up 17.6% in Howard County in 2023, with a total of 5,705 crimes reported, according to the Governor's Office of Crime Prevention and Policy.
