Youth violence is a growing concern in Boston after several recent shootings involving children or teenagers, some of them deadly.
Zontre Mack, 19, faced a judge in Dorchester District Court on Friday. He was the second suspect arrested in connection with the deadly July shooting of 15-year-old Curtis Ashford.
Another teenager was shot and injured in Roxbury Wednesday night.
In mid-October, someone shot and killed Rasante Osorio, 14, in Roxbury.
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Days earlier, one student shot and injured another student outside Jeremiah E. Burke High School in Dorchester.
More on youth violence in Boston
"The situation that we're seeing today in Boston with the youth — it's the lack of resources that are being implemented in spaces where they occupy," said Domingos DaRosa, a Boston youth mentor. "We have community centers that have been closed since the pandemic and continue to remain closed."
Other youth advocates said the pandemic made it more difficult to reach at-risk children and teenagers.
"We've seen more people overall, but especially young people, feel isolated," said Janeen Smith-Carnes of Mass Mentoring.
She said outreach programs can have a positive impact.
"We see a decrease in violence and we see an increase in some of those positive activities that we really want to see," she said.
