Alexis Alvarez was next, gunned down in the middle of the afternoon outside a bodega near his home, possibly because he was wearing a red sweat shirt that someone mistook for gang colors. It was a gift from his mother.

Dawud Roberts barely made it to his front steps after walking home from school before someone stuck a knife into his 16-year-old heart. Russell Rice, Devin Fields and Anthony Dixon followed within weeks, shot down on the streets of this violent, poor city in incidents that police say may or may not have involved drugs.

In the past 19 months, 20 teenagers have been slain in Newark. The most recent came last weekend, when gunplay left two people dead and 11 injured in eight separate attacks.

The sheer numbers don't begin to tell the story of how the killings have rocked New Jersey's largest city. The recent attacks have sent new fear through long-suffering neighborhoods, and throwing cold water on the optimism generated by the inauguration of a reform-minded mayor who has vowed to make stopping the carnage his first priority.

"It's incredibly horrible," said Cory Booker, who took over as mayor Saturday. "It should not be in a city this strong and a nation this great that children are dying this young."

In addition to families left devastated by the loss of sons, brothers - and in some cases, fathers - the violence has jarred countless teens who fear that they could be next.

Shaquan Maxey, 14, was friends with two of the young homicide victims.

"It's not safe to go out and sit on your porch," he said. "I go in the house at 8 o'clock at night now. Usually I would go in at 11. I don't want to get killed. I don't want it to be me.

"I could be one of those people getting killed for nothing," Maxey said. "I could be in the wrong place at the wrong time. You never know."

Jordan Adderley, 16, is an amateur rapper who thinks he might like to work as an auto mechanic someday. But he has a hard time imagining himself growing up and growing old.

"Honestly, I don't think so," he said. "There's a lot of pressure around here, man. I think about it a lot. I don't carry a gun, so I got no chance."

Authorities and community leaders cite several factors for the killings, including the easy availability of guns, a lack of jobs and constructive activities to pass the time, and a culture that glorifies violence and drug dealing as the path to quick riches.

"We come from very rugged neighborhoods," said 17-year-old Kareem Brown. "We want to get somewhere. People haven't been taught that you have to do something to get to where you want to be. They want the fast cars, they want the girl.

"These deaths are over nothing - a basketball game, a girl. It's just all a game to them. You win today because you got that quick dollar. But tomorrow you could die because somebody else wins."

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