This week’s top stories from the Ledger-Enquirer | Nov. 18-25

1. Kendrick High senior killed on his 18th birthday remembered at candlelight vigil: More than 100 people gathered in front of Kendrick High School Monday evening to mourn the loss of yet another youth to gun violence. This time the victim was Javion Shorter, a Kendrick High senior who was gunned down Friday on his 18th birthday.

2. Body in the woods reminds us of why some schools struggle: Steve Phillips, 30, was found dead Thursday morning from a gunshot wound in the woods off Winston Road. He was about a half mile from Dorothy Height Elementary School, which had the lowest scores in the Muscogee School District on the 2017 College and Career Performance Index. Many students in that area face challenges many others do not: extreme poverty, unstable family life, neighborhoods threatened by gangs, drugs and violence, and a general lack of hope.

3. Police: Naked woman escapes sex assault when child interrupts, asks for juice: Witnesses told police De’Quandre Roberts acted like a man “possessed” the night he got drunk and beat and sexually assaulted a woman before she ran naked to a neighbor’s home at Columbus’ Whisperwood Apartments. The woman later told police she escaped from Roberts about 2 a.m. Nov. 13 when her young daughter awoke and interrupted the attack by asking for a box of juice.

4. Teen shot Friday in Columbus dies Sunday morning: Muscogee County Coroner Buddy Bryan says 17-year-old Javion Shorter, a black male, was pronounced dead at Midtown Medical Center in Columbus at 4 a.m. Sunday. Shorter had been taken to the hospital for treatment of gunshot wounds after police found him at the Ballard Way Apartments on Hunter Road.

5. Columbus police seek two cars after chases, exchange of gunfire: Police Maj. J.D. Hawk said officers in two units leaving a call on Buena Vista Road near Overlook Drive saw two cars going east toward downtown run red lights at Brown Avenue. The officers turned around to make traffic stops, and one vehicle pulled over at Overlook Drive while the other sped away. Police encountered the car two more times throughout the night, with the assailants reportedly shooting at officers each time.

This story was originally published November 25, 2017 at 1:42 PM with the headline "This week’s top stories from the Ledger-Enquirer | Nov. 18-25."