'It's scary': Violent crime involving teens is on the rise statewide, officials say

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- Teen violence is up both statewide and locally.

Here in the Houston area, we had five shootings involving teenagers from Thursday to Monday, where four teenagers were killed.

"It's scary. I'm a parent myself and a member of this community. The reality is that we've been seeing it coming for years," Harris County District Attorney's Office Executive Bureau Chief John Jordans said. "Just a few years ago, we would average between 20 and 25 homicides a year committed by youth, meaning 16 and under. Last year, it was 49. And, you know what's tragic? Most of the victims of these murders are youth themselves."

According to the Texas Juvenile Justice Department, juveniles charged with homicides rose statewide from 108% from 2019 to 2024.

Cases involving guns went up 44%.

But, out of the more than 50,000 young people referred to the department last year, 8,686 received probation, and less than 1% were sentenced to state facilities.

"The problem with our youth is that they have impulse control problems, and they will pull a trigger faster than an adult," Jordan said. That's why when they commit aggravated robberies, we have to do early intervention. Maybe on the first one, we put them on probation, but when they commit multiple, we need to be tougher on them because of what the consequences are."

In Harris County, Jordan has led the effort to move misdemeanor and nonviolent juvenile crimes out of the court system and into educational diversion programs so prosecutors and judges can focus on violent crimes.

As of Tuesday, he says 85% of juvenile court cases are felonies.

Some county leaders are also pushing to add extra juvenile courts.

But, all these efforts haven't been a deterrent, and violent crime is still going up.

"Surprisingly, anecdotally, I can tell you that many, many of our murder cases are first-time offenders. That we won't necessarily see it coming," Jordan said. "We can't tell you why this is happening, but it is happening, and we have to be ready."

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