Just before 9 p.m. on Thanksgiving, 3-year-old Malachi Barnes was sitting in the backseat of his father’s car as they traveled north on I-75.
A few minutes later, the car was riddled with bullets, and young Barnes was struck by the gunfire. His father, Anthony Barnes, drove to Mercy Health St.Vincent Medical Center where his son later died.
RELATED: The Blade’s 2018 homicide database
Now Toledo police investigators are left attempting to solve the city’s 39th homicide of 2018. It’s a figure that equals the total number of homicides for 2017 with a month left to go before the calendar turns to 2019. Last year’s total of 39 was the most in Toledo since 1994 when the city last saw 40 homicides in a single year. At this time last year, 37 homicides had been reported in the city, with the year’s final two occurring in December.
Toledo Police Chief George Kral was briefed about the homicide on Thursday night. When he heard what happened, he couldn’t believe it. Every murder is horrible, he said, but when the victim is a young child, it’s especially bad.
“It just hurts all the more,” he said.
Police believe the shooting wasn’t random, said Lt. Kevan Toney, spokesman for the Toledo Police Department. Officers are investigating whether Mr. Barnes was targeted, or if it was a case of mistaken identity and the suspects fired upon the vehicle believing someone else was inside.
“We don’t know if the suspects knew there were children in the car,” Lieutenant Toney said.
Police said the shooting happened as Mr. Barnes was driving with three children, traveling northbound near Collingwood Boulevard when a vehicle pulled up and opened fire. A second child, 10 years old, was cut from broken glass. Mr. Barnes and the third child — a 2-year-old — were not injured.
Lieutenant Toney said he believes Mr. Barnes is the father of all three children.
“It’s really sad to see such an innocent victim like this on Thanksgiving night,” Lieutenant Toney said.
Mr. Barnes declined to comment when reached by The Blade Friday.
Alert: #toledopolice are seeking assistance in the homicide of 3 yr old Malachi Barnes. At about 9:00p.m. last night, Barnes was riding in a vehicle n/b I-75N, just north of the Maumee River when another vehicle opened fire. If you have any info, ☎️ Crime Stoppers @ 419-255-1111. pic.twitter.com/y301Elq0fe
— Toledo Police (@ToledoPolice) November 23, 2018
Lieutenant Toney would not comment on the year’s homicide total so far, saying that the department is concentrating on solving Thursday night’s fatal shooting.
“We’re going to be investigating the murder of a 3-year-old,” he said.
Even though it’s a holiday weekend, Chief Kral said everybody at the department is working to solve the case and they won’t quit working until they arrest the person responsible.
It’s so important, Chief Kral said, to arrest the perpetrators of gun violence and send them to prison.
“We have too many guns on the street,” he said.
Anita Madison, retired Toledo police sergeant and president of the African American Police League in Toledo, said there is no easy answer to solving gun violence.
“Whatever the solution is, it’s going to have to involve the entire community,” she said.
Gun violence exists in other cities, Ms. Madison said, so it’s not just a Toledo issue. But community members will need to work together to address the problem in a way that is successful for Toledo.
She believes the police do what they can to solve crimes involving gun violence, but more of the responsibility in preventing these crimes from occurring in the first place falls to the community. Organizations dedicated to decreasing gun violence, faith-based groups, and so many others all need to work together to reach individuals at risk of causing violence long before they cause violence, she said.
“We can’t stand by and wait for the violence to happen,” Ms. Madison said.
When she first heard of the shooting on Thursday, she was filled with sadness.
“It’s sad, that’s what it is,” she said. “Very unfortunate.”
Anyone with information about Thursday’s homicide is asked to call the CrimeStopper program at 419-255-1111. Lieutenant Toney said anyone who knew about the shooting beforehand or heard about it afterward needs to know that because of that shooting, a child is dead.
“Now you know that a 3-year-old was killed,” he said. “That’s on your conscience if you don’t call the police and tell us what you know.”
This is the second year in a row that a non-traffic crash fatality has occurred on I-75 through Toledo during the holiday season.
Last year a Michigan man — 22-year-old Marquise Byrd — died after a sandbag fell from the Indiana Avenue overpass and struck a vehicle he was traveling in.
Four teens, Pedro Salinas, Sean Carter, William Parker II, and Demetrius Wimberly, pleaded guilty for their involvement in dropping the sandbag.
First Published November 23, 2018, 12:05 p.m.
