LANSING, Mich. — Every one has a past, and 17-year0old Brooklyn Spear has no problem sharing hers.
“I was more so lost as a person,” Spear said.
After losing her older sister, Spear said she turned to the streets and later, spent 8 months in a juvenile detention center for a weapon charge.
“I was frustrated and confused on how I could let myself get in that situation,” she said.
Spear’s story isn’t unique. The Ingham County Prosecutor’s said in 2022, there were 45 juvenile weapon charges in the county and so far in 2023 there’s been 47.
“The trend that really concerns me, isn’t just the misuse of guns, but kids playing with guns, kids accidentally shooting their best friends with guns. We have to do better,” said 30th Circuit Court Rosmarie Aquilina.
Aquilina said she hopes to do better through the county’s new weapons court, an 18 to 24 month program filled with mentorship, intervention tactics, professional training and after school activities.
“It’s going to empower them to say I have the tools, I have the skills to walk away and not use a gun,” Aquilina said.
The Weapons court is open to kids between the ages of 10 and 17 who have one or more weapon charge. Those kids will be picked by Aquilina and others involved in the weapon court,
While charges will not be dropped at the end of program, Aquilina said there is a reward.
“The kind of rehabilitation that need will be here and on the upside, they can take advantage of this instead of going to jail,” Aquilina said. “I mean a lot of these charges are two to three year charges, so that’s a plus.”
Spear has turned her life around and has one message to other teens who may be where she once was.
“Be your self, because if you’re not yourself, you will not want to be better,” she said.
