Rantoul mentor calling on community to help engage youth
Jun. 9—RANTOUL — In the wake of another death of a teen with apparent ties to drugs and guns, a Rantoul leader is urging the community to find more positive things for young people to do.
"Collectively, we all gotta do a better job at engaging these kids and giving them hope. Parents. Schools. We need everybody. That's one thing I'm going to talk to the city council about," said Herbert "Hub" Burnett, 58.
"You got very, very limited options in Champaign and Urbana, let alone Rantoul. Rantoul is limited options on steroids," he said.
A Rantoul resident since 2020, Burnett was mourning Jordan Richardson's death at the hands of a Rantoul police officer Wednesday.
Champaign County Coroner Duane Northrup said Mr. Richardson, 18, of Rantoul, died of an apparent gunshot wound to the chest that he received about 12:30 p.m. Wednesday.
Preliminary information is that Mr. Richardson was armed when he fell in the 400 block of Belle Avenue as he was being pursued by police, then turned toward an officer with the gun in his hand.
That's when Sgt. Jerry King fired a single shot that killed Mr. Richardson. He was pronounced dead at 1:42 p.m. at Carle Foundation Hospital, Urbana. An autopsy is scheduled for today.
Burnett said this death has been particularly rough on him because he personally knew Jordan for about six years but said he had not had much contact recently with the Rantoul Township High School graduate.
Burnett retired from his 20-year military career in 2006 and returned home to Urbana, where he founded a group called "Not On My Watch," borrowing the name from a military concept that we are all responsible for everything that happens on our watch.
An owner of a Champaign clothing store, Burnett moved his family to Rantoul three years ago to help mentor and motivate young people.
One of the programs offered by Not On My Watch is the Leadership Development Academy, which he ran for middle school-age children at J.W. Eater Middle School with the permission of the school district.
"Jordan was an excellent kid in middle school," he said, noting that Mr. Richardson voluntarily took part in Burnett's financial literacy class that met weekly at 7 a.m. before school.
"The first year, he was my only sixth-grader. He was my first student to do all three years (of classes in the Leadership Development Academy.)"
Burnett urged the public to see past the facts that Mr. Richardson was armed and running from a vehicle in which police found two other loaded guns and a large amount of cannabis packaged for sale.
"Unfortunately, everyone sees the guns and drugs. They don't see the person. He's 18. Their brain hasn't developed. Everybody is carrying guns. You can get weed on the corner of Cunningham and University," Burnett lamented.
"Why are they turning to guns and drugs? These kids don't have hope. It's across the board in the country. They are angry. No one believes in them. It's tough. This kid had a lot of potential," Burnett said.
Burnett said Mr. Richardson's mom worked at the high school and his stepfather is a barber.
"There is nothing to do in Rantoul but get in trouble. It's one of the reasons that I moved there, to give them some hope. I'm meeting with the principal of Rantoul Township High School to see about getting the Leadership Development Academy in there.
"An idle mind is the devil's workshop. We gotta find ways to engage them. You've heard 'you can lead them to water, but you can't make them drink.' But I say you can put oats in their mouth and create a thirst," Burnett said.
Burnett said he wasn't blaming anyone for Mr. Richardson's death.
"I was in the Army for 20 years. When I was in Iraq and they had a gun and I had a gun, I had to make sure I was going home to my family. I'm not here to blame cops. We gotta do a better job of giving these kids hope and options. We need all hands on deck."
Burnett credits his success with young people who have participated in his Leadership Development Academy with exposing them to opportunities outside their immediate environments.
"Whether it's an Indianapolis Pacers game, the Shedd Aquarium, the Institute for Genomic Biology (at the UI) or an escape room, life is so much bigger than Bradley and McKinley avenues (in Champaign). A lot of kids believe life exists at Mattis and Bradley or Bradley and McKinley. You begin to settle. If you think the whole world is Rantoul, that's what is in your mind," Burnett said.
A GoFundMe account titled Jordan Richardson's Celebration of Life has been set up to help his mother with funeral expenses.
