The new initiative which begins this week was started by Judge Timothy McCoy after seeing a spike in weapon possession cases and gun violence involving teens.

CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — A local judge is taking a new approach to a growing and deadly problem, teen gun crime.

In Nueces County, the number of minors caught carrying firearms has skyrocketed in recent years, and more of those cases are turning violent. That has the judge who oversees Juvenile Court at Law 5 launching “Weapons Court” designed to intervene before another family loses a child.

The new initiative begins this week, but for some families, the consequences of juvenile gun violence are already painfully real.

Two years ago, Andrew Garza Sr. lost his teenage son to a shooting involving another teen.

At Get Faded Barbershop off Weber Road, there is still a silence Andrew Garza Sr. cannot shake.

“This was my son’s clippers,” Garza said as he pointed to a workstation.

It has now been two years to the month since the life of his son, Drew, came to an end.

“Ain’t nothing to prove but a funeral… and a lot of broken hearts.”

His son was a sophomore in high school when he was shot and killed by another teen.

“I dropped him off at school and I get a phone call that his friend had shot him. Unfortunately, my son didn’t make it,” said Garza.

Andrew now runs the barbershop his son always dreamed of having, with murals all around honoring his life. His message to kids is simple, 

“There’s no way any kid should even be responsible for a gun right now.”

That message is exactly what one local judge hopes to reinforce inside the courtroom.

“It isn’t a political statement. It isn’t even an anti-gun message. But it is an anti-kid gun violence message,” said Judge Timothy McCoy.

Tim McCoy has presided over Juvenile Court at Law 5 for the past decade. He says when he first took the bench, his court saw roughly a dozen weapon possession cases a year.

“Our numbers went from maybe 10 or 15 kids a year… to like 60 and 70 a year here in Nueces County.”

Even more alarming, he says more of those cases are escalating into robberies and even murders.

So this week, McCoy is launching “Weapons Court,” a specialty court modeled after a program in Michigan that showed success reducing youth gun violence. 

“I was at a conference with Judge Missy Medary, you know, everyone knows Judge Medary, and, Judge Rose Aquilina up in Michigan. And, she was a speaker at the conference and told me about a program that she had instituted up there, which was, again, a specialty program to address this issue. So she sparked the idea,” said McCoy.

The idea is to intervene early before a possession case becomes a homicide case.

“Over the last 3 years I’ve sentenced more children o TJJD unfortunately than I had 11 years previously, the accountability is there, the problem is that’s not helping, I can sentence a kid and put him away as long as I can the court can, that’s not solving the problem, our detention center is still full, we have to address it in other ways,” said McCoy.

Kids placed on probation for certain weapons charges will be required to complete an intensive program focused on conflict resolution, character development, and real-life consequences.

“Seeing people who have been in these situations helps. We are going to have medical professionals come in and show what a bullet can do to somebody,” he said.

Parents will also be court-ordered to take part.

“They’re going to have to be participating as well, and they will be held accountable,” said McCoy.

McCoy previously launched a targeted program addressing unauthorized use of motor vehicles after a spike in car thefts and says cases dropped dramatically.

Now, he hopes for similar results.

“I want to come back in a year and say violence has dropped off 80 percent… look at the kids’ lives we’ve saved.”

For Andrew Garza Sr., any effort that keeps another parent from standing where he stands is worth it.

“I was that hardheaded kid one day… They just need love. They need somebody to reach them,” said Garza.

Just days ago Garza Sr. earned his barber license, a promise fulfilled in his son’s name. He is also doing his part to reach out to youth, to share his son’s story, and be a positive role model for others.

McCoy said a large number of the guns juveniles end up with are stolen from unlocked vehicles, something he hopes public awareness can help prevent.