Some lives have been lost, but there are others to be saved

One young man is dead and the lives to two others accused of shooting him are changed forever. If they are convicted of cold-blooded murder, most of their lives could be spent in prison.

Given the ages of the accused, 15 and 17, that is a harsh prospect. But it cannot be forgotten that the life they snuffed out was that of Brandon Adkins, who was himself only 16.

And the visual picture painted by police reports of the activities of Rayshawn Marquise Royal, 17, and Deandre Maurice McCrary, 15, does little to suggest mercy is in order.

Adkins was followed — stalked might be the better word — by two people armed with two pistols. One of those two shot Adkins in the back. The other shot him in the stomach. He was left to die in a driveway on South Avenue.

Murder is the worst symptom of a breakdown in social order. The Golden Rule is to do unto others as you would have them do unto you. “Live and let live” is broadly understood as a call for tolerance of others who may be different from you, or even a polite way of saying “mind your own business.” But we are seeing today young men who don’t even see the value of following literally the advice to live and let live.

What goes through the mind of two young men with pistols in hand as they follow and then execute another young man who is not unlike themselves?

What forces have socialized those young men — or perverted their sense of humanity — to allow them to pull the trigger?

While man’s inhumanity toward men existed long before there were poverty-impacted cities, and some level of violence exists in suburbs and rural areas as well, it would be dangerous to suggest that something especially frightening didn’t happen in Youngstown the night of June 18.

There were signs

All three youths had demonstrated that they were on the wrong track, with various run-ins with the law and school authorities. It is now too late to help them.

But that brings us to the point of this editorial. On the streets of Youngstown today there are other young men who are sending similar signals to the adults in their lives that they are spiraling out of control.

It is up to their parents, grandparents, aunts and uncles to heed the warning signs. There are those who would say that it is too harsh to assign part of the blame to relatives who are already suffering. But the message is not aimed at those for whom it is too late, it is aimed at those who still have time to at least try to make a difference.

If relatives, neighbors and clergy suspect that a boy they know is being courted by a gang or is experimenting with drugs, now is the time to act. If they need motivation, they might consider the pain that the Adkins, Royal and McCrary families are going through now.

There are schools and alternative schools, community centers and juvenile courts that are funded by the government and philanthropy to keep young people headed in the right direction. But there is no substitute for love and discipline that starts at home.

Parents used to ask their children what they expect to do with the rest of their lives. Now urban parents must begin asking at an increasingly young age whether their children are going to have lives past their teens — or whether they have been infected by a lawlessness that destines them for a coffin or a life behind bars before they reach the age that other children graduate from high school or college.