(WSBT) Each year, homicides cost nearly a dozen lives in South Bend. Every one of them makes headlines, and after that, the story seems to be over. But did you know we're ALL paying a price for that kind of violence?

It’s a typical fall Friday night, windy and chilly. And standing in the high school football stands waving her arms and screaming with excitement, Jill Young is once again cheering on her son’s team. It’s one of the ways she remembers him.

“It still doesn’t seem real,” Young said. “He used to always tell me that he was going to be a pro football player and he was going to move me to Hawaii and I would never have to work again.”

But 19-year-old Kenny Riles never got the chance. The Washington High School graduate was shot and killed outside a party last year. Police said he was running from a gun fight that erupted near the intersection of Western Avenue and Cherry Street. Riles was the 14th homicide victim in St. Joseph County for 2006.

“It’s just a good person missing from this world,” Young said.

Not just emotional heartache

And after burying her only son before his 20th birthday, it wasn’t just emotional heartache Jill faced. She was also staring at a mountain of funeral and medical bills. Like all other families whose loved ones fall victim to violence, they would have to live with the pain and also pay for it. From cemetery fees to medical bills, Young paid $11,000.

“A lot of these young men that are out in our community committing these crimes, it does not phase them at all – what it’s costing emotionally, financially, they don’t care,” said Young.

But we learned that when it comes to homicide, family members aren’t the only ones paying the price. Neither is the suspect. Authorities say everyone does.

“It comes out of everybody’s pocket,” said St. Joseph County Metro Homicide Commander Tim Corbett. “It affects everybody in this community.”

Everyone pays

Take the Kenny Riles case, for example. For more than half a day after the shooting, South Bend Police officers had to remain at the intersection to secure the scene while detectives looked for evidence. According to police department estimates, it cost $2,159 in hourly and overtime costs. Forensic testing and ballistics analysis cost more than $5,000.

Much of the investigation belongs to the St. Joseph County Metro Homicide Unit. It’s a $299,000-a-year operation and part of the county budget.

“When my team goes out, we have two investigators and two technicians in addition to myself,” Corbett explained. In larger cases, more officers are involved.

There is an autopsy for every homicide victim. Each autopsy costs $1,300 and, according to the St. Joseph County Coroner’s office, it’s billed to the county. In 2006, that totaled more than $18,000.

Lab costs last year ranged from $300 per victim to $975. X-rays and the cost to read them ranged from $203 to $320.

Court costs vary widely, but records from the St. Joseph County Auditor’s office show the price of the third Osco Triple Murder trial last year cost the county $197,000.

Paying for Prison

The biggest financial cost when it comes to homicide is the one to keep convicted killers behind bars. At $58.99 per day, per inmate, Indiana taxpayers will spend $45 million this year incarcerating inmates serving time for homicide.

And it’s that cost that angers Jill Young most — the cost to keep the man connected with her son’s murder behind bars.

“My money and everybody else’s money is going to pay for his stay in prison. So he gets three meals a day, he gets clean sheets and coverings to cover up at night, he has somewhere warm to sleep at night, and my son is in his grave.”

You can read more in Friday's edition of the South Bend Tribune.

Click on the links in the Related Content box to see more examples of the cost of violence.