There are numerous other instances of juveniles committing crimes in recent days.
In Cleveland Ohio, News 5 ABC reports a group of youth ranging in age from 12-18 years old were arrested last month for dozens of car thefts and break-ins.
Maryland reports a surge of juvenile crime across the state. A recent Fox 45 report from Baltimore says officials reported arresting a particular group of repeat juvenile offenders, including two 16-year-olds and a 14-year-old. One of them had nine prior arrests. Another had three. 
A 12-year-old girl was arrested last week in Washington D.C. after a string of robberies.
Dr. Danny Huerta is vice present of parenting and youth at Focus on the Family.
He talked about the importance of a child's upbringing.
"I think it shows a symptom of a variety of things, symptom of a community, symptom of society, kind of just the world in general, human nature, symptom of human nature, symptom of maybe a lack of involvement of positive parental figures or even positive people in a person's life."
A lot goes into a person deciding to commit a crime … or repeated crimes.
"A lot has happened in that person's life to lead them to that moment to choose to do something like that. It’s sad that a child at 12 years old sees that as a good idea, and they are not able to see that it can hurt somebody else."
While children are prone to rush toward independence, the impact of loving, well-meaning adults to guide them cannot be overstated.
“There are so many important pieces to a child's development that come from positive adult role models, positive relationships with their own parents.”
Those positive relationships lower the likelihood of high-risk and delinquent behaviors in kids.
“What I've seen in my practice as a therapist is when kids have these types of relationships, they begin to find these relationships. You see better decision-making. I see a higher level of self-confidence in those kids.”
What adults mean to kids
That quickly carries into the kids’ school experiences.
“Their academic and work performance goes up. I begin to see more happiness that is found by that child, and I see a lot of anger, a lot of emptiness, a lot of loneliness when a child doesn't have that.”
Huerta said there seems to be an "us vs them" mentality in a child that doesn't have those quality adult relationships.
The impact of adults helps kids in so many ways that are often taken for granted. Kids learn to take constructive feedback, they help them approach life with a fresh perspective, and they help teach kids empathy, self-control, responsibility, and humility, Huerta said.
