Producer of a film about youth gun violence calls for support systems for youth in the region
DeCaree Lewis, co-researcher on a film with Allison Luthe about gun violence among teens, lists three things adults should consider to help teens now.
Mykal McEldowney/IndyStar
The first conversation DeCaree Lewis had about a gun was with his mother, Latavia.
He remembers it more as a lecture. And even at the age of ten, he wasn't afraid, he said – it felt like a normal part of his environment.
“It's my gun,” his mother told him. “Don't try to look for it or anything.”
Lewis said raising him was “fun,” but it was hard to ignore his mother's drug use and other violence within his family.
His mother died of a drug overdose in 2021 when he was 12 years old. Several friends and family members lost their lives to gun violence. In short, Lewis has endured more adversity in his 15 years than most people do in their entire lives. He said hardships are a part of life, but each one he has experienced has made him a better person.
“I just want to be different,” he said.
“Talking Guns Project” takes an honest look at gun violence among young people
Allison Luthe said it's unimaginable how many funerals she has attended during her nearly decade as executive director of the Martin Luther King Community Center in Indianapolis for children killed by gun violence.
The first time she attended was in 2020 when she was with David Lowery Jr., a promising 16-year-old from the MLK Center's youth outreach group and a player on the Indy Steelers youth football team. His death has haunted her over the years and prompted her to look into why more and more young people in Indianapolis are carrying guns.
According to a report from the IUPUI O'Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs, the homicide rate among youth in Indianapolis is set to triple between 2016 and 2023. The report says black youth are nine times more likely to be victims of gun violence than white and Hispanic youth. It also cites social media, the proliferation of guns, and previous experiences with gun violence as key factors in the increase. The report was prepared in partnership with the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department.
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In 2023, Indianapolis police investigated 25 homicide cases in which a person age 17 or younger was killed. That number was even higher for Marion County when including three juvenile homicide cases handled by Speedway and Lawrence police.
“It is clear that we need to move away from this mindset of punishment and control,” said Luthe. “Instead, we should try to listen to the voices of young people and put them at the center.”
Over the summer, Luthe teamed up with Lewis, a student at Indianapolis Public Schools' Crispus Attucks High School, to do just that. The two interviewed 10 Indianapolis teenagers who had been charged with gun offenses in the past five years.
The research is not part of the community center, but rather Luthe's dissertation in the American Studies doctoral program at IU Indianapolis, which asks students to “engage with issues and topics relevant to contemporary American life.” It takes an honest look at why Indianapolis teenagers carry guns and what can be done about it.
Lewis has known Luthe for six years, and when the project was introduced in a casual conversation, he jumped at the opportunity. Lewis remembers the exchange – it was at the center's Best Buy Teen Tech Center when he was working on producing music and other videos.
“I just understand that because I'm a black man and I grew up in this poverty,” he said. “Guns have had a big impact on my family. Kids and guns just don't mix.”
The interview questions for the project were carefully crafted and covered everything from why the youth carried a gun, to their arrest and incarceration, to their lives after being charged with gun possession.
Lewis helped interpret the questions and translated the slang for Luthe. She said he made her more approachable because he knew the participants from outside the project.
“They may be his people,” she said. “But that's not right. He understands that.”
Participants' responses were then turned into a nearly 11-minute short film shot by Lewis. A narration guides viewers through the film, which ends with a heartbreaking distress call.
“I will never forget this day”
Luthe met Lewis and his mother at the community center when he was nine, on the first day of an after-school program.
“I will never forget that day,” said Luthe. “I still have a picture of him reading in the basement.”
She said she was sitting at the reception and noticed his charisma when he came in. He was bossy and playing with his friends, full of confidence and had no worries in the world.
The community center supported Lewis over the years when he felt those closest to him had abandoned him and his carefree life had come to an end, he said.
“When my mother died, I felt like I didn't have a support system,” he said. “My grandmother helped me. But you know, when I was closer to the MLK Community Center, I felt like I had a support system.”
Lewis has taken advantage of the center's offerings, such as the youth workgroup and the Tech Center, where he learned video production skills.
Luthe said she has seen music videos made by neighborhood teens that feature very adult situations, and she hopes the tech center will give them a more productive outlet for their video production.
“We could either have them make music videos with lots of drugs, alcohol and guns,” Luthe said. “Or we can try to make some videos that could make a difference.”
Avoiding gun violence
Whether it was the toothpaste that dried on a participant's cheek during filming or the gunshot death of 17-year-old film participant DeVon Robinson Jr., Luthe's urgency to advance the discussion about kids with guns was heightened.
The most surprising finding of their research was that most participants felt that a 30-day sentence in a youth prison was a slap on the wrist. They found their stay traumatic and said it did not improve the environment they would have to return to.
Less surprising was that none of the participants had any weapons training.
When asked, Lewis said that nothing the participants said was surprising or new to him.
“To be honest, it was all quite normal for me,” he said.
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Even though some children carry weapons, Luthe said, their purpose is not always to use them. She also said that some children are simply victims of their environment.
“It’s hard not to do what your environment is doing when you’re stuck in one place,” said one participant in the film.
For Lewis, the hardest part of the project was being different. Not in the clothes he wears or the food he eats, but in the people he associates with and the relationships he invests his efforts in.
“I'm starting a new life,” he says to those who are still searching for the best way to stay out of it all. For Lewis, staying out of it all means focusing on your goals and leaving negativity behind, no matter the environment.
The Talking Guns Project emerges from a closet
Since his mother's death, Lewis has suffered from a lack of stability in his life. His home is now a bedroom in his brother's apartment. It's small, he says, but he's grateful for it. That's where he spent his time while editing the film.
During the more than 100 hours of editing, Lewis said, he sometimes sat on his bed and reviewed the footage. Other times he sat at a desk that he had squeezed into his closet because it was too big for his bed.
The film challenges adults to be more intentional in their interactions and relationships with teens, and encourages listening rather than lecturing that questions teens' ability to succeed in an unforgiving society. When kids are in trouble, they need help the most, Luthe said.
On a recent Wednesday night, Lewis and Luthe ordered a few pizzas and set up various sweets in a small room at the community center. They planned to show the film to 11 children and six youth workers to get feedback. The children asked to show the film at their schools.
Luthe said she hopes two upcoming public screenings aimed at policymakers, youth workers and adults will continue the discussion and help bring about real change. Although admission is free, registration is required as seating is limited.
So far, Luthe said, the right people are reserving a seat to watch the film, from members of the IMPD to a juvenile court judge, youth therapists and scientists who study gun violence among youth in the city.
At the end of the editing process, Luthe and Lewis discussed who they would dedicate the film to. Via text message, they came up with the same person – Lewis' mother.
“To Latavia Lewis: Without you, we would never have met,” reads a screen at the beginning of the film. On the surface, this statement is simple, but at its core it speaks deeply about the importance of relationships, which, when nurtured, can change the course of a person's life.
Contact IndyStar photojournalist Mykal McEldowney at 317-790-6991 or [email protected]. Follow him on Instagram or Twitter/X.
