Woodland CA – – Murder. We are afraid to say it, afraid to talk about it, and afraid it will happen to someone we love. It’s the worst thing that could happen to our child, brother, mother, sister, father or any other loved one; and we also know that having a loved one murdered is the worst thing that could happen to us. We shudder and recoil at the thought of what that murder would do to us. We know murder does not end one life, it ends many lives. It changes everything.
In 2007, Congress designated Sept. 25th as the National Day of Remembrance for Murder Victims. Robert and Charlotte Hullinger, of Cincinnati, formed Parents of Murdered Children following the 1978 murder of their 19-year-old daughter, Lisa, while she was studying in Germany. The annual day of observance is held on the date Lisa was murdered. The annual National Day of Remembrance for Murder Victims gives us all the opportunity to remember those lost to homicide, and honor their memories. The purpose of this day of remembrance is to focus on the impact of murder on families, and communities, and ways to support and serve survivors.
Whether the murder of your loved one happened 30 years ago, 10 years ago, or even just a few months ago, you know that you have been changed, and the person you were the day before the murder is gone, completely gone. The fact that you, and so many members of your family and the way you interact with them, changed on that dreaded day is just one part of what makes murder the most evil act and the worst sin a human being can do, the most heinous crime.
On April 13, 2013, 16 year old Daniel Marsh entered the home of Claudia Maupin and Oliver “Chip” Northup, while they were asleep. He brutally stabbed them to death and watched as they took their last breaths. Northup (87) and Maupin (76) were part of a loving family and a united community. The ripple effects of this homicide were not just felt by their combined 11 adult children and numerous grandchildren, but by a tight knit Davis Community, their Church and the social groups they belonged to. The effects were also felt by the Davis law enforcement and emergency response community who responded to the crime scene and diligently worked to obtain evidence to lead them to the murderer. Effects went so far as to touch the jurors who learned all the details during a lengthy trial and the court staff who sat through the multiple hearings. Homicide makes a community acutely aware of trauma and loss from within. It isn’t an act that simply stays between the immediate parties involved. Homicide is an act that envelopes an entire community; an entire county; an entire society. Julia Hernandez Hill, an advocate of 15 years with the Victim Services Program states that each new horror that arises in the news makes her think of the survivors – and how their lives have suddenly been changed forever. “That’s what’s so crazy about it,” she said. “A single choice made by a single person, in just a matter of seconds, impacts not only (the victim) but the family of the victim and their acquaintances. It’s a ripple effect.”
The Yolo County District Attorney Victim Services staff will be in attendance at the observance of the National Day of Remembrance which will take place this Friday, September 25th, at 6pm on the North Steps of the California State Capitol. Please contact Laura Valdes at 530 666-8187 for more information.
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