URBANA, Ill. (WCIA) — Urbana Police are proposing a new way to curb domestic violence in the City. It’s something officials say is necessary after recent crime, including a shooting that left a young boy dead.

A Friday news conference shed light on that situation, but also opened the door to more conversations around domestic violence.

According to Urbana Mayor Diane Marlin, domestic violence has reached a “crisis point” in the last couple of years. Other City leaders have also noticed the increased amount of domestic violence issues.

“Domestic violence is a primary driver of violent crime in our community,” Urbana Police Chief Larry Boone said. 

Boone has plans to try and stop that from getting any worse. He has proposed the creation of a domestic violence response unit that would combine law enforcement with social services and healthcare providers. 

“We’re talking about a group of disciplines that work together 8 to 5 analyzing data,” Boone said. 

Urbana Mayor Diane Marlin said this is needed to stop the deaths that come from broken relationships — specifically for uninvolved, innocent family members like 7-year-old DJ Wicks.

Police said he died after being shot as his father and 43-year-old Melvin Braxton fired at one another. Braxton also died. 

Police said their investigation found that Wicks’ father, Darnell Hayes, and Wicks were visiting a home near Lanore Drive and Washington Street when the person living there had an argument over the phone with Braxton, who did not live there. He arrived unannounced while intoxicated and armed and then forced his way inside the home.

“What are categorized as domestic incidents, those are the singlest biggest call for service in the city of Urbana,” Marlin said. 

In 2024, Urbana police responded to 1136 domestic calls for service. 437 police reports were taken for domestic battery. 194 arrests came from those.

“By the time someone calls for help in a domestic situation things have progressed to where it could be an emergency, and we need to have a more proactive approach,” Marlin said. 

Boone said the proposed alternative response could connect victims with support, job opportunities and introduce them to financial assistance programs. The hope is to create something that lessens domestic incidents and, eventually, other crimes too. 

“This initiative would ensure a targeted, efficient response to domestic violence as well as other violence,” Boone said. “We would ensure accountability through ongoing evaluation and regular strategy reviews to measure how effective we are.”

Champaign County State’s Attorney said Braxton, the man who died in last Saturday’s shooting, had a gun illegally. Boone said there is a direct correlation between cases of domestic violence and gun crimes.

He said the department is tracing guns, like the one Braxton had, to see how they get into the City to learn how to keep them off the streets.