Franklin County, Ohio, where 16-year-old Ma’Khia Bryant was shot and killed by police this week, has one of the highest rates of fatal police-involved shootings in the nation. According to a report by the Ohio Alliance for Innovation in Population Health, 38 people died at the hands of police in Franklin County between 2015 and 2020, making it the deadliest county in the state for police-involved shootings.
According to The Guardian, the study also found that Franklin County, which includes the state’s capital, Columbus, has the 18th highest rate of deadly police shootings out of the 100 most populous counties in America.
Nearly 20% of Black people in Ohio live in Franklin County, but 33% of Black victims of police-involved shootings in the state come from Franklin.
Ma’Khia was shot on Tuesday afternoon (April 20) after her family says she called for help, just moments after Derek Chauvin was convicted of murdering George Floyd last May. In December, two Black men were killed by police in Franklin County, Andre Hill and Casey Goodson, Jr. The officer who shot Hill, Adam Coy, was charged with murder. Goodson’s killing is still under federal investigation, according to The Associated Press.
As the list of names of victims of police shootings continues to grow, advocates continue to push for structural change and abolishment of the current policing system in the nation. Though Senators met on Thursday (April 22) to discuss federal level police reform legislation, legislation across several states passed to impose penalties for protesters, following a months-long and continued protests following police-involved fatalities.
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