Just eight days later, Kerry Baxter, Jr., 19, the son of Lawana Wyatt, Fremont’s cafeteria manager, was shot and killed outside St. Anthony’s Church on 16th Avenue.

Meanwhile, East Oakland School of the Arts held a musical tribute on Jan. 26 for Chris Jones, 17, a gifted drummerwho was shot in front of his home on New Year’s Eve

while tucking his five-month niece into her car seat.For many students, the homicides weren’t just numbers on an annual murder victim map. They were family. They were best friends. They were classmates.‘‘It makes me feel like, no lie, as though I can be next,” said Earsy Jenkins-Crockett, a Mandela sophomore. “And I hate that feeling because if it can happen to an innocent bystander, then it can happen to a 

little baby playing outside.”“Chris was never in trouble. He never did drugs, he never messed with anyone. He was different. He shouldn’t have died,” says Jenah Keeby, 17, a senior at EOSA.

Another EOSA senior, Dejai Johnson, 17, took Jones’ death especially hard. “When he died, it was hurtful,” he said. “It was the fourth funeral I’ve gone to since September.”

Katie Riemer, a health educator at Fremont’s Tiger Clinic, says teenagers surrounded by violence and tragedy often deal with serious mental health issues.

“Every week someone is dying, and it’s leaving everyone stressed,” she said. “It’s a cycle and it leads to depression. People feel helpless.”

Police believe Jones’ shooting was a case of mistaken identity. No arrests have been made in the Jones, Hadnot or Baxter cases, Oakland police said.

Other murders over the past 12 months include those of Eric Toscano, a Skyline High senior shot on March 27; Davante Riley, a former Media Academy studentwas shot on April 18; Jimon Clark, a student at Frick Middle School shot on Aug. 25; Raymen Justice, 17, shot on Sept. 21; and Marquis Woolfolk, 18, an OTT contributor shot on Nov. 21.

No information was available on investigations into the murders of Clark, Justice, Woolfolk, Toscano or Riley.

The death toll could soon surpass the 15 students lost to violence in the 2009-10 school

year, district officials said.

“Despite our best efforts, we still struggle with an enormous rate of violent crime among our youth,” said Troy Flint, OUSD spokesman. “And this problem has to receive the same, if not greater, emphasis than our efforts to improve academic achievement.”

Despite the sadness, teens carry on. Grief counselors were on hand at Fremont after Hadnot’s murder. At EOSA, seniors held a meeting to help freshmen learn how to cope.

Barb McClung, OUSD’s mental health services coordinator, believes students are becoming numb to tragedy. “It’s happening so much, it’s becoming normalized,” she said. “I see a tremendous amount of sadness in students.”

Hadnot’s sister, Tonisha, stopped by Fremont after his death to talk to students. She was a student at Media Academy in 2007.

Asked what her younger brother’s dream was, Tonisha said she did not know.

“I never asked him that question,” she said. “Now, it’s too late.”

— Reported by Pearl Joy Balagot and Rosemary Bustillos of Media Academy and Esmeralda Argueta, Alihzey Black, GuadalupeBuenrostro, Janice Davis, Esther Gamez, Maria V. Muniz, Lee Simmons and Lilybeth Villasenorof EOSA.

Tags: homicides, Kerry Baxter, lovell hadnot