Two killed in Lorain double homicide; city officials look to combat gun violence (UPDATED)

LORAIN — After two women were killed in Lorain over the weekend, city officials began looking for solutions to gun violence in the city. Detectives are continuing to investigate the deaths of 28-year-old Abril Mills and 29-year-old Jerhonda Edwards, who were killed Saturday on F Street. Mayor Jack Bradley said officers worked over the entire weekend on the case. Officers responded at 8:30 p.m. Saturday to a call about a shooting. There they found Mills and Edwards dead from multiple gunshot wounds. The deaths are the second and third homicides in the city this year, and Bradley addressed recent gun violence at Monday's City Council meeting. After the two deaths this past weekend, Bradley said he had the police chief give him crime statistics in Lorain over the past 10 years. While crime rates have gone down, Bradley said crimes involving guns have gone up dramatically in the city. Cities cannot pass ordinances that contradict Ohio's gun laws, and Bradley said state gun laws are not very restrictive. He asked council members for ideas on curbing gun violence in Lorain. "It's just getting ridiculous that we have many young people that think guns are attractive," he said. "That think it makes you a bigger person just by having a gun, that shooting someone is not the last resort, but it seems like it's the first resort." Councilman Josh Thornsberry, D-8th Ward, asked if getting gunshot sensors — where a sensor alerts every time a gun is fired — would be possible for Lorain. Bradley said prior to COVID-19, he met with representatives from a company that sells them. He said the cost would be high to put them up across the entire city, but that Lorain could target them to certain areas. "But it just seems like the whole city of Lorain has issues with people who have guns that aren't supposed to have guns," he said. Councilwoman Mary Springowski, D-at large, said she wants to bring in the police department and its union for a larger conversation on combating gun violence. "It's going to have to be a community effort to combat this," she said. Anyone with information on the shootings is asked to contact Detective Kurt Graupmann or Detective Sgt. Tabitha Angello at the Lorain Police Detective Bureau at (440) 204-2105. Tipsters will remain anonymous. Mills worked at St. John's Hospital and had a young son. The Chronicle-Telegram reached out to family for comment. A GoFundMe page raising money for funeral arrangements for Mills and for her son was set up by Mills' mother. Edwards was a 2010 graduate of Elyria High School, according to her Facebook page. She also had a young son. A GoFundMe page raising money for her funeral arrangements was also set up. Any other funds leftover will go to her son. Contact Dave O'Brien at dobrien@chroniclet.com. Contact Laina Yost at lyost@chroniclet.com.