I have had a heavy heart the past two days. Two nights ago, I saw a Twitter message from a local news source stating a young juvenile had been arrested for a murder that took place in Columbia Heights this past Saturday evening. Anytime I see a story about violence in Columbia Heights, I fear I will recognize one of the names in the story. I coached two seasons ('05-'07) of Young Life junior high basketball in the neighborhood before I went back to school for my master's degree.

This week's story was no different. I feared I would recognize a name, and sure enough, the 17-year-old arrested for murder was on my team in 2007 when he was 15. According to the news story, he shot at some other men from his bike, but his bullets fatally hit a woman walking up the street instead.

Early in June 2007, I attended the funeral of another young man from the 2007 team after he was killed by a bullet meant for someone else, and died at the age of 13.