Growing number of teens charged with murder concerns prosecutor INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — The Marion County Prosecutor’s Office filed 86 murder cases in 2025. The Marion County prosecutor told News 8 on Wednesday that there’s a growing number of teens charged with murder. Teens committed 30 % of murder cases filed in 2025. Prosecutor Ryan Mears underscored an urgent need for effective youth intervention and prevention. “One thing we struggle with here is access to firearms. In a sense, it’s way too easy for kids to get access to guns. Unfortunately, there are a lot of people walking around with handguns. And when those guns are all around us, it shouldn’t be a surprise when kids can get access to them. Another thing we found are cases where kids are buying guns on the Internet.” While Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department said murders were down 20% in 2025 compared to 2024, Mears’ office found that more than half of people who were charged with murder in 2025, 66%, either had no criminal history or only had nonviolent prior offenses. “And it speaks to the fact that people who are becoming involved in violent crime have no nexus to the criminal justice system. They haven’t been there. They’ve never been involved. Yet because of the proliferation of firearms, everybody having a gun, they see that as a way to solve their problem, and all it does is exacerbate the problem.” The office also found that nearly half of murders stemmed from arguments. “And so many of them are such petty disagreements that somehow end up in gun violence, where people lose their lives. We had something like a honking of a horn leading to someone dying.” Mears said minor issues shouldn’t lead to death. “Too many of these cases are preventable in the sense that if people take a minute to think, pause, take a deep breath before they reach the gun, we can have entirely different outcomes that don’t become moments that are defining people’s lives.” The prosecutor’s office tried 42 murders in 2025 and secured convictions in 90% of those cases. Mears said that’s in large part thanks to the community and police partnership. Learn about WISH-TV’s Youth Alternatives to Violence Crime initiative ...read more read less