TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WTXL) — Melanie Andrade Williams wants to have a deeper discussion about the Leon County Sheriff's Office's 90-page report titled "Anatomy of a Homicide" that came out last year.
The report looks at statistics of the 141 homicides that occurred in Leon County from 2015 to 2021.
"At the end of that report there are a few pages of examples of things and strategies, different programs and examples of things they'll target and found from the findings of that report, and we kind of want to do that but from a community perspective," said Williams.
Williams says that they want to find solutions to help solve some of the problems that may contribute to the violent crime problem in Tallahassee.
"The community is one of the most important stakeholders as far as analyzing these issues and coming up with a game plan."
And says that the report links poverty to that type of crime. Community member Donna Cotterell agrees.
"It's really about making sure that people have a livable wage so they're not out committing crimes supplement what they don't have," said Cotterell.
Cotterell lives in the 32304 zip code, an area that had 35% of the murders, according to the report.
She says she hopes continued community conversations, like the one at the Tallahassee NAACP, will help start a change in the county and city.
"We call them conversations for change. Because they're not one and done," said Cotterell. "They're ongoing, indefinite."
The reading will start Wednesday at 7 p.m. at the Tallahassee NAACP Branch and will go on until around 8 p.m.
