INDIANAPOLIS - Metro Police are investigating whether a homeless man was beaten to death by a group of juveniles.
It's a trend that's capturing headlines across the country: groups of teens beating homeless people. Thousands of videos of these attacks have been posted online. Sometimes the result is deadly.
Investigators say the body of 61-year-old Stephen McGuire was discovered near a loading dock at Ohio and Meridian Downtown on Thursday.
McGuire was found beaten to death behind the Sheraton Hotel where he'd been living for several years. No arrests have been made but Metro Police are following several leads, one of which may involve juveniles.
"When kids come to a point where they feel like they have to abuse or take the lives of others, that calls for everyone to stop and wake up because in just a moment it's going to be somebody else's uncle, father, daughter, son," said Shanel Poole.
Poole started a non-profit organization that works to help at-risk youth in Indianapolis. She says this type of crime is most likely a cry for help - an outlet for anger that has been building.
"It's not until they're at a breaking point when they're feeling rebellious that society actually identifies those problems. They're being abused mentally, physically, emotionally, coming from dysfunctional homes," said Poole.
The homeless man who was killed was Poole's uncle.
"He would have helped any one of those last young people who took his life," she said.
Poole says his murder is a sign that she and the rest of the community needs to do more.
"I know if my uncle were here right now he would want me to work harder to make change. He wouldn't want to me to run around angry holding grudges, so my job at this moment and due to this experience is to work hard to be saviors to young people," said Poole.
Poole is calling for the people who beat her uncle to death to turn themselves in to start the change in their lives. She's also inviting at-risk young women ages 9 to 18 to join her program called GLAM, which stands for Gorgeous Ladies Acting Maturely. For more information, call 317-500-2800.
