There was something different about the Teen and Youth Violence Prevention and Safety Town Hall held Saturday morning at Calvary Bible Church in Florissant.
“Either we live together as brothers,” he said, “or we perish together as fools.”
What began as a familiar format — elected officials and community leaders outlining strategies to curb youth gun violence — quickly shifted into something deeper. By the time the final speaker stepped away from the microphone, the gathering had moved from policy talk to collective soul-searching.
Parents, educators, clergy, and residents filled the sanctuary, many still carrying the emotional weight of a devastating week in North St. Louis County. The town hall was organized in direct response to a shooting at McCluer South-Berkeley STEAM High School — a tragedy that reignited long-standing fears about the safety of the region’s children.
The shooting, which took place in the school’s parking lot after a track meet, claimed the life of 13-year-old LaJuan Swopes and left a 15-year-old injured. Another 13-year-old has been charged with second-degree murder, first-degree assault, unlawful use of a weapon, and two counts of armed criminal action.
The program transitioned from a structured panel to open dialogue. Residents stepped to the microphone not just with questions, but with grief, frustration, and a desire for answers.
Ferguson City Council member Jamil Franklin spoke bluntly.
“I listened to a lot of the ideas. And for me the answer is simple,” Franklin said. “We have to get back to our traditional families. Black men, we have to step up. We have to start committing to our women and raising our children in house.”
He pointed to the lack of structure many young people face.
“Our children are running wild. There is no real authority,” he said. “I came out of a single family household, but I did fear my mother. That’s why I’m alive today.”
Franklin’s message centered on accountability.
“We say we are willing to die for our children — but we’ve got to be willing to live for our children.”
Melba Walker raised concerns about students with neurodiverse needs — young people she said are especially vulnerable.
“What happens when we have students with neurodiverse needs and they are in a criminal environment?” Walker asked. “How are we supporting them?”
She questioned the lack of long-term support.
“Yes, they had an IEP in the third and fourth grade, but what is being done to bring them in and give them the support that they need?” Walker said. “To tell them, ‘Hey, you, more than others, don’t really understand what somebody is sending you out to do.’”
Then came a moment that shifted the entire atmosphere.
“I’m the state representative of where the shooting happened,” said State Rep. Raychel Proudie. “And what needs to take place for those who are elected is an apology.”
What followed was raw and unfiltered.
“I apologize to everybody in here for the failure on behalf of elected people,” she said.
Proudie spoke openly about political infighting and ego.
“There are people in this room who don’t like each other… and it has absolutely nothing to do with you,” she said. “We have dead children.”
Her voice cracked as she continued.
“We’ve even seen it here — in this church… throwing shade… rolling eyes while people are up here talking — and we have dead children.”
She acknowledged her own missteps.
“I’ve been trifling,” she said.
Turning to NAACP St. Louis County President John Bowman, she offered a direct apology.
“I’ve projected my daddy issues on you and I should not have,” Proudie said.
“We have some high-octane coonery — and that’s why we have dead children,” she added, “We are not going to gala and step-show our way into the revolution. We have to get ourselves together.”
Host pastor Robert Lloyd affirmed the need for honesty.
“We can’t ask our kids to act right and give y’all a pass,” Lloyd said. “Ms. Proudie shouldn’t be the only one acknowledging her role.”
He challenged elected officials directly.
“We want our kids to get it right, but we want y’all to get it right — or we won’t vote for you.”
Ferguson-Florissant Superintendent Dr. Howard E. Fields III brought the focus back to the young lives lost.
Fields framed his remarks with his parallels to Swopes’ upbringing. “I am from North St. Louis County,” Fields said. “I attended North St. Louis County Schools. I attended college in North St. Louis County. I taught and coached in North St. Louis County. And Now I am superintendent of a North St. Louis County school.”
The difficult week was made heavier by the idea of the potential that was shot down.
“How do we know that LaJuan would not have been Dr. LaJuan?”
He also spoke of Norris Williams, another student killed less than 24 hours earlier.
“How did we know that he was not going to be a doctor, attorney or State Rep. Williams?”
“I was in places I was not supposed to be in,” he said. “And this is what God has done for me.”
His story as a North County youth who rapped and played basketball an ascended to lead a school district drove home the point of stolen potential.
“When we give them an opportunity — and allow the village to take care of them — the sky is truly the limit.”
He also issued a critique of adult behavior.
“We want the young people to have conflict resolution skills, but the adults don’t have conflict resolution skills.”
Congressman Wesley Bell underscored the urgency.
“The number one killer of young people — it’s not childhood cancer. It’s gun violence,” Bell said.
He called for investment in grassroots organizations that are putting in work from the frontlines to stop the violence before it starts.
“We have to stop thinking we can prosecute our way out of these issues.”
State Rep. Kem Smith pointed to the link between economic instability and violence.
“In order to keep that street job, you are going to have to do street stuff,” Smith said. “And our community is suffering from the street stuff.”
She called for mentorship, workforce development, prayer walks, and a rally centered on teens.
“Just like we had a No Kings rally, can we have a rally for our teens,” Smith asked. “They need to know we care about them. And we didn’t have this conversation for it to evaporate on Monday morning.”
Youth pastor Farrakhan Shegog reminded the room that young people must be included in the work.
“Very rarely are those young people in the room when conversations are being held about them,” he said. “If we are really genuine about it, the first place to start is with them.”
But he warned that presence alone is not enough.
“If the room is already filled with hate… jealousy… ulterior motives, the space is already corrupt,” Shegog said.
Pastor Lloyd closed the event with a reflection that echoed the day’s central theme — accountability begins with adults.
“We blame our kids, but I think we are the problem,” Lloyd said.
Then, invoking Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on the anniversary of his assassination, he left the room with a choice that felt immediate.
“Either we live together as brothers,” he said, “or we perish together as fools.”