By Joan Scmhidt
Thirty-two years ago, two brave special mothers, “Lenny” (Ellen Griffin) Dunne and Marcella Nicolas Leach founded “Justice for Homicide Victims.”
Both mothers experienced the brutal murders of their beautiful daughters. Dominique Dunne was killed by a former boyfriend who failed in two prior attempts to strangle her. His trial was a farce; manslaughter conviction and three years in prison; the jury was not allowed to hear his former girlfriend’s testimony. A year later, Marsalee Ann Nicolas (Marsy) was murdered by her ex-boyfriend. He was arrested, but out on $50,000 bail. A week after her daughter’s funeral, Marcella met the murderer at the market! No one told her he was released.
This is why Justice for Homicide Victims (JHV) began. Two years ago, I met Leach and Dunne’s two sons, who spoke at the 30th anniversary; I was in awe of how these victims of tragedy could fight tirelessly for reform and help others.
This year’s memorial’s theme was “Building Trust and Restoring Hope.” After Jane Bouffard welcomed us, her husband Bill, president, JHV, spoke of the late Leach. Twenty years ago, Bouffard’s parents were murdered. Leach and her husband Bob drove every day from Malibu to be with Bouffard at the trial in Norwalk!
The program had three outstanding speakers, State Senator Bob Huff, San Bernardino District Attorney Mike Ramos, and LA County Supervisor Mike Antonovich. They noted Prop 47, AB 109, and a rise in crime, spoke with compassion for all victims, urged everyone to serve on juries to ensure justice, research death penalty reforms, and praised the two honored deputy district attorneys.
Young speaker Alina, whose mother was murdered when she was two, explained “Camp Good Grief,” a special weekend for young victims where they share experiences and feelings, in between a great camp experience.
The two deputy district attorney honorees were Robert Villa and Sakira Kim. Villa got a conviction for the brutal murderer of the Tarin family, father Alfredo, son, A.D. and daughter, Serena. Surviving daughter Valerie bravely recounted the horror as surviving mom fought tears. The murderer brought gasoline, poured it in front of the house to trap the family inside, and entered with an assault rifle firing 50-plus shots. For his tenacity and refusal to give up, Villa was honored.
Deputy District Attorney Kim was relentless in getting the conviction of the coward who killed five year old, Aaron Shannon, Jr., William Shannon, the brave grandfather, explained that awful day. He bought a Spiderman costume for Aaron and planned attend a Halloween party at 2 p.m. Aaron put on his costume and went out back to show his grandfather and uncle. The murderer came down the street and just fired into the yard, killing Aaron. The first trial had a hung jury and William was discouraged but met Kim. She brought the case to a second trial, also hung jury. But at the third trial, Kim got the conviction.
In between the speakers and honorees, we were treated to the International Peace Choir. These talented youths wore costumes from various countries. Their selections included “Let There be Peace,” “This Song is for the Children,” “Angel among Us,” and “We are the Survivors.”
At the end of the program, survivors released doves and balloons with special messages, followed by lunch. Thank you to many volunteers working several hours and great sponsors for this event. Please visit www.justiceforhomicidevictims.com.
