LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Louisville leaders say gangs are a significant driver of gun violence in the city, and a long-running prevention effort has added a new voice to its front-line strategy: families who have lost loved ones.
The city’s Group Violence Intervention program, launched in 2021, is bringing mothers of gun-violence victims into “custom notifications” — in-person visits meant to prevent future shootings. One of the mothers in training for the program is Krista Gwynn, whose 19-year-old son, Christian, was killed in 2019.
“He will never be forgotten. Ever,” Krista Gwynn said.
On the Gwynn family’s mantel sit photos and the ashes of their son. His parents say Christian was generous and kind, even to strangers.
“I gave him my everything,” Christian's father Navada Gwynn said. “Christian gave even strangers his all. He literally gave a stranger the shirt off his back,” his parents echoed.
Christian Gwynn was shot and killed in December 2019 while heading home after getting food, trying to make his 10 p.m. curfew.
“A car drove past, rolled the windows down, proceeded to shoot my son,” Krista Gwynn said. “He never made it home for his 10:00 curfew.”
The Gwynns say the shooting was random and that their son had no connection to gangs.
“My son was never referenced in any sort of gang violence or anything,” Navada Gwynn said.
The family is one of more than 1,000 in Louisville that has lost someone to gun violence over the past decade. The FBI estimates about 30 gangs operate in the city.
Joshua Crawford, who leads Louisville’s Group Violence Intervention program, said gang-related violence typically involves young men.
“It’s primarily a young man’s game — 25 and under — and male,” Crawford said.
Crawford said Louisville’s gangs range from just a few people to a few dozen and are often divided by neighborhood. One of the program’s main tactics is custom notifications, in which law enforcement, social services and community partners go to the homes of people police believe are involved in gangs but who have not yet been charged.
Nonprofit partners offer help getting out of violent situations, including therapy, job training and other support. Police also make the consequences clear.
“Involvement in violence needs to stop or there will be swift and severe consequences,” Crawford said.
In 2025, the team conducted 76 custom notifications. Only seven of those individuals later committed a new violent or gun-related offense.
Now, victims’ families are being added to those visits. Krista Gwynn is training to take part, hoping her story will reach people before another family experiences the same loss.
“What we want to do is show you the face of your potential victim,” she said. “You don’t want that on your soul. You don’t want that on your heart.”
Another part of the program focuses on families facing immediate threats. Taxpayers fund up to $50,000 a year to relocate families at risk.
In 2025, four families — about 15 people — were relocated out of Louisville. According to the city, none have reoffended.
“I’m not under the illusion we will ever get to zero,” Crawford said. “But we will fight like hell to try to get to zero.”
For families like the Gwynns, every statistic represents a life lost.
“We can help you,” Krista Gwynn said. “Just because you live on 42nd and your neighbor wears blue or red or whatever, you don’t have to affiliate with that.”
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