LJ Young remembers the exact moment the criminal justice system changed her life.
She was a straight-A student, a mother and in the throes of postpartum depression when an emotional outburst led to a domestic incident. She turned herself in, accepted responsibility and expected to complete community service.
Instead, she was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, jailed for four months in Harris County and placed on probation for what would stretch into 14 years due to the high cost of court-ordered restitution.
“I wasn’t going to let it break me,” Young said. “I did what I had to do. I worked, went back to school, and studied mental health. But I never forgot what that experience taught me about the system.”
Today, she finds herself back in that system, this time as the mother of a son incarcerated in a private prison. He was diagnosed with conduct disorder in second grade and Young spent years fighting for services that never came. As he got older, time and options ran out. He was swept into the streets and arrested. Now, Young says, he’s been warehoused in a facility hours away, his mental health worsening while medical and emotional needs go unmet.
“He was already vulnerable. He had a chemical imbalance. He made mistakes. And now he’s sitting in a cell where they don’t even respond to medical requests,” she said. “I haven’t heard from him in days. And nobody has answers.”
Young’s story captures the complex, layered reality behind Houston’s youth violence crisis, a cycle shaped by poverty, untreated mental illness, substance abuse and systemic neglect. And she’s not alone.
“These kids aren’t monsters,” she said. “They’re broken. They’re desperate. And we’ve given them no way out.”
Community speaks out
Young was one of several community members who recently spoke at Dying for Attention: Our Youth in Crisis, a town hall hosted by activist Deric Muhammad at the Kashmere Multi-Service Center. The goal was to confront the often-ignored connection between youth drug use and violent crime and uplift the voices of those closest to the issue.
“We’ve seen an exorbitant amount of violence this summer,” said Muhammad. “And too often, when you dig into the details, the perpetrator was under the influence of drugs.”
Violence among youth is linked to other adolescent issues like homelessness, substance abuse, obesity, academic failure and mental health, requiring increased public health awareness and interventions. Texas Juvenile Justice Department reports a 108% increase in homicide charges and 44% increase in gun cases from 2019 to 2024, with 8,686 probationers and less than 1% sentenced to state facilities.
“If we keep ignoring drug abuse in our communities, we’ll keep burying our kids,” Muhammad said. “The violence isn’t random. It’s fueled by trauma, addiction and desperation.”
Muhammad structured the panel at the event to reflect “generational disconnection.” He seated youth leaders and older mentors on opposite sides of the stage to spark honest dialogue and healing.
“We’re too often locked in a battle for generational supremacy,” he said. “But if we sit down and listen to these kids, they’ll tell us how to help them.”
One of those voices belonged to Romellow Robins, a peer mentor with Destined for Empowerment, a local program serving formerly incarcerated or system-impacted youth.
“I was the black sheep. I got locked up. And people I thought were my family all disappeared,” Robins told the Defender. “Only my mama picked up the phone.”
Now focused on guiding others through what he endured, Robins challenges older generations to stop judging and start mentoring.
“We, as a Black community, don’t stick together. We have always been against each other, or the system, or greed or money, always turned us against each other,” Robins said. You all should have been there to help us out, to teach us to elevate ourselves instead of certain people who will look at you and then just judge you or treat you based on what you’ve been through.”
A veteran of the streets mentors youth
Shawn Allison, community violence interrupter, said he sees his younger self in today’s teens.
Allison said he was drawn into the streets as a form of rebellion and emotional survival.
“I was the second child. My brother was great at everything. I started acting out because I stopped getting attention at home,” he said. “When the OGs (Original Gangsters) in the streets told me they were proud of me, I stayed.”
Today, Allison helps youth unpack trauma and understand the consequences of glorifying criminal lifestyles.
“I used to want to be Scarface, Frank White, Nino Brown,” he said. “But when you play the tape all the way to the end, they all die.”
He warned that many teens don’t see past the money and fame until it’s too late.
“We have to teach them to play the whole tape. Don’t stop the story at the part with the cars and followers,” Allison said. “Get in a room with these kids. Let them talk. Don’t talk at them. That’s how we break the cycle.”
The Real solutions aren’t in a jail cell
Speakers at the town hall agreed that the core solutions are already known; they just aren’t adequately funded or prioritized. Young says government officials are misplacing priorities when it comes to youth incarceration and drugs. The expectation is for middle-class and poor people to donate to support programs to uplift the youth, but families struggle financially.
“We don’t need more prisons. We need more trades programs. More therapy. More job access”
LJ Young, Houston resident
“The cost of wages has gone up and wages are stagnant. Families aren’t present enough for the children, so they find ways to get attention,” said Young. “You have to open up doors and opportunities for that to happen. But we are worried about the government funding more prisons.”
Community programs like Change Happens!, My Brother’s Keeper Houston, and Destined for Empowerment offer real support from mentoring to trauma counseling to re-entry guidance. But they remain underfunded while the state allocates billions to expand correctional infrastructure.
“We don’t need more prisons. We need more trades programs,” she said. “More therapy. More job access.”
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