National Day of Remembrance for Murder Victims: Loved ones share their loss (VIDEO)

Grief doesn't respect demographic boundaries, and the devastating impact of a homicide in the family can be found in all walks of life. On Monday, a coalition of victim groups gathered outside the Lindsey-Flanigan Courthouse downtown to remember lost loved ones and listen to a keynote speech by Denver Mayor...

By Alan Prendergast

September 27, 2011

[
        {
          "name": "Air - MediumRectangle - Inline Content - Mobile Display Size",
          "component": "12017618",
          "insertPoint": "2",
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "2"
        },{
          "name": "Editor Picks",
          "component": "17242653",
          "insertPoint": "4",
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "1"
        },{
          "name": "Inline Links",
          "component": "18838239",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 8,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "7",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        },{
          "name": "Air - MediumRectangle - Combo - Inline Content",
          "component": "17261320",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 8,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "7",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        },{
          "name": "Inline Links",
          "component": "18838239",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 12,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "11",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        },{
          "name": "Air - Leaderboard Tower - Combo - Inline Content",
          "component": "17261321",
          "insertPoint": "8th",
          "startingPoint": 12,
          "requiredCountToDisplay": "11",
          "maxInsertions": 25
        }
      ]

Grief doesn't respect demographic boundaries, and the devastating impact of a homicide in the family can be found in all walks of life. On Monday, a coalition of victim groups gathered outside the Lindsey-Flanigan Courthouse downtown to remember lost loved ones and listen to a keynote speech by Denver Mayor Michael Hancock -- whose sister Karen was killed by her ex-boyfriend in 2002, and who urged the audience to find ways to turn their pain and sorrow into action.

The National Day of Remembrance for Murder Victims brought out a number of prominent law enforcement officials and local leaders in the victims' rights movement, including mistress of ceremonies and state representative Rhonda Fields, mother of Javad Marshall-Fields, killed with his fiancée Vivian Wolfe shortly before he was expected to testify as a witness to another murder.

But the most powerful moment of the proceedings came when family members were invited to come to the podium with photos of their loved ones, to remind us all of the people behind the statistics.

Some of the deaths received widespread media coverage. Others did not. Many remain unsolved; in fact, there are more than 1,500 unsolved homicides on the books in Colorado. But as the video below makes clear, all of the crimes involved have snatched away something precious, in the harshest way imaginable.

KEEP WESTWORD FREE... Since we started Westword, it has been defined as the free, independent voice of Denver, and we'd like to keep it that way. Your membership allows us to continue offering readers access to our incisive coverage of local news, food, and culture with no paywalls. You can support us by joining as a member for as little as $1.

Alan Prendergast is a former staff writer at Westword and is now a senior contributor. He writes about various topics but primarily focuses on news. He’s contributed to Rolling Stone, Los Angeles Times, Outside, USA Today, Men's Journal and other publications and is the author of two nonfiction books, Gangbuster: One Man's Battle Against Crime and The Poison Tree: A True Story of Family Violence and Revenge. He’s earned numerous accolades for his work including the Eugene Pulliam National Journalism Writing Award and two national feature writing awards from the Society of Professional Journalists.

Contact: Alan Prendergast

Follow:

Twitter: @alanprend