URBANA — Darnell “DJ” Wicks was 7 and loved Spider-Man. Sherman McCraney was 18 years old. Melvin Braxton was 43. Richard Meek was 70.
Each was killed in Urbana this week. Three of the incidents were unrelated except for the common thread of domestic and gun violence, according to the Urbana Police Department.
“Our commitment to justice remains unwavering. Solving these cases and preventing future tragedies is our top priority,” said Chief Larry D. Boone.
At a news conference on Feb. 14, Boone presented a plan that he said would prevent and address violence in the city.
He wants the city to establish a coordinated domestic violence response unit made up of specialized responders, law enforcement, social services and health care providers. Some of the interventions the group would implement could include help apps and financial assistance for survivors and job opportunities through local businesses.
“We’re talking about a group of disciplines that work together, 8 to 5, analyzing data, each discipline being held accountable by the tip of the spear, whoever that person may be, to measure impact. And once that community or that neighborhood is healthy, we move to the next one,” Boone said.
He called this a type of alternative response policing.
Urbana activists and city councilors have been pushing the city to adopt alternative solutions to social problems other than arrests for at least four years. This year, some councilors have clashed with Boone about adding more police to the force before establishing those alternative responses.
Police still investigating who shot 7-year-old “DJ”
The Urbana Police Department also provided updates on the four people killed this week in the city, including Wicks.
Wicks was visiting someone else’s home with his father, Darnell Hayes, on Feb. 8. UPD believes Hayes was armed and that he has previous weapon and domestic battery convictions. After a conflict over the phone with someone in the house, Melvin Braxton showed up uninvited and inebriated. UPD said he had previous alcohol and traffic convictions and was also armed.
“The exact sequence of events regarding the shots being fired is still under investigation. No determination has been made regarding which gun was responsible for firing the shots that struck DJ,” said Deputy Chief Dave Smysor.
Police officers found Wicks with gunshot wounds before 8 p.m. and transported him to Carle Foundation Hospital. Braxton was found nearby and was also taken to Carle. Both the child and the man died from their wounds.
Smysor said police want to speak with Hayes and that he is a person of interest. He also said this is a case of domestic violence, because of Braxton’s past relationship with someone in the house.
Four homicides is an unusual number for a single week in Urbana. In 2021, there were six homicides total, according to a City of Urbana map of police incidents.
What would prevent domestic violence in town?
Courage Connection CEO Elizabeth Cook said Boone’s approach to preventing domestic violence is a good one.
“We all need to be at this table, and we need to be there 24/7,” Cook said.
Courage Connection runs a 24-hour hotline where people often call to find out if what they are experiencing is domestic violence.
The nonprofit also hosts survivors in 22 residential rooms in shelters in Champaign and Urbana. Cook said people usually stay in those rooms between 30 days and 45 days.
In Cook’s experience, the causes of domestic violence are usually associated with a desire for power and control in a relationship and societal factors like access to affordable housing.
“One of the great challenges that domestic violence survivors face is being able to find sustainable, affordable, permanent housing. And that’s one of the main reasons that we find survivors having to return to [being] victims is that their financial resources are interconnected.”
Cook said Courage Connection already works with Champaign, Urbana and University of Illinois law enforcement to immediately offer shelter to those who need it. She said she looks forward to expanding that partnership.
Housing instability is one of the root causes of domestic violence, Cunningham Township Supervisor Danielle Chynoweth said. She argues that addressing housing would be more effective than more policing.
“Police come after the violence; they don’t prevent violence. They don’t prevent crime; they respond to crime,” Chynoweth said.
Chynoweth said the Urbana Police Department responds to fewer calls with more staff than the Cunningham Township. The two organizations cover the same area.
Cunningham Township gets about 15,000 calls every month for help with rent, income support, utility shut offs, hunger and homelessness, and they help out with 18 staff members, Chynoweth said.
According to a recent report, Urbana police were called to help with 24,000 incidents over the course of 2022. In 2023, the UPD was allowed to have a 74.5 employees in the department.
Chynoweth said there has been a rise in domestic violence since the pandemic. She also said there is more housing and food instability in Urbana than she has seen since she moved to the area in 1995.
“We need to address people’s basic needs so that we can prevent violence, frustration, mental health crises, domestic violence and other issues that are truly preventable.”