YORK, Pa. (WHTM) — Even one homicide is too many for the victim and their family.

Still, fewer homicides are better than more, and the city of York’s total so far in 2023 — three — is the lowest for this point of the year since 2020. By this date in 2022, the city had 11 homicides.

What does that mean?

“What it means to us is, what we’re doing — what we’ve been trying to do, what we’ve been building on — is starting to work,” said Michael Muldrow, the city’s police commissioner.

Muldrow credited steps such as the police department’s Violence Intervention Unit. Concerned neighbors can reach a beat cop directly on a cell phone.

How meaningful is the year-to-date decline?

“We’re only halfway through the year, so anything can change,” said Pam Gay, York County’s coroner. “But we are hopeful. The trend seems to be a little lower this year, even with suicides.”

Gay noted suicides account for a large percentage of gun-related deaths.

Muldrow and Gay spoke Friday at an event called “If Only You Knew: How Gun Violence has Impacted Me.”

Among the other people speaking: Chawna Griffith, whose son, then-20-year-old Justin, was killed in July 2021 on a basketball court in Cousler Park, in Manchester Township.

Her life’s work now? Preventing other families from getting a phone call like the one she got from Justin’s friends at the park that day.

Compared to her life as Justin’s mother, “I feel like I have a different walk of purpose,” Griffith said. “As a parent, we walk every day to be of service to our children, to make sure our children grow up to be decent human beings. Now I’m walking with the purpose of: How do I honor my son, how to honor his 7,420 days here? How do I make sure that even in death, he still continues to have an impact?”