(Columbia, SC) – Attorney General Alan Wilson led participants through the 22nd annual Silent Witness Domestic Violence ceremony that was held today on the south steps of the State House in Columbia.
During the solemn ceremony, Attorney General Wilson called the names of thirty (30) women and eleven (11) men from across the state who lost their lives as the result of domestic violence in the previous year.
Victims’ family members, friends, or volunteers carried a life-sized silhouette representing the victim to the State House steps as a bell was rung for each victim. An additional forty-second (42) silhouette represented the potential unknown victims.
“This is a sad and solemn occasion to commemorate the lives that were lost in the past year to domestic violence,” said Wilson.
“This is a cycle of violence that must be broken in our state,” said Wilson. “All too often, not only is the life of the victim lost, but in ways, we lose the children who grow up in a home where domestic violence is taking place.”
Domestic violence survivors, officials and victims’ advocates made special remarks to highlight the problem of violence against women.
A statistical breakdown for each county is available at http://www.scag.gov/criminal-domestic-violence-in-south-carolina.
2018 SILENT WITNESS VICTIMS
Patricia Todd
54 years old
Abbeville County
Laketia Boyd
23 years old
Aiken County
Curt Cain
41 years old
Aiken County
Melissa Clary
20 years old
Aiken County
Tabatha Duncan
24 years old
Anderson County
Rashad Patton
37 years old
Berkeley County
Tennille Grant
41 years old
Charleston County
Silvia Flores
52 years old
Charleston County
Tina Makeupson
39 years old
Cherokee County
Brandon Thomas
33 years old
Cherokee County
Ashley Blackmon
24 years old
Dillon County
Darren Elmore
42 years old
Dorchester County
Heather Connor
38 years old
Florence County
Nina Edwards
48 years old
Florence County
Caleb Bartram
25 years old
Greenville County
Shafeque Berry
34 years old
Greenville County
Rebecca Ferrarelli
38 years old
Greenville County
Angela Giacometti
42 years old
Greenville County
Natasha McDonald
44 years old
Greenwood County
Lourdes Brown
30 years old
Hampton County
Samantha Cox
27 years old
Horry County
Jennifer Fitchett
41 years old
Horry County
Lindsey Stegner
28 years old
Horry County
Chantis Greene
39 years old
Jasper County
Katelin Crocker
19 years old
Kershaw County
Faith Garza
24 years old
Laurens County
Daniel Orlick
25 years old
Marion County
Cathy Varner
63 years old
Newberry County
Mya Lee
21 years old
Oconee County
Regina Brown
53 years old
Orangeburg County
Devena Rutland
35 years old
Orangeburg County
Justin Posey
30 years old
Pickens County
Timothy Anderson
27 years old
Richland County
Joseph James
45 years old
Richland County
Temisha Collier
37 years old
Spartanburg County
Rickeya Foster
26 years old
Spartanburg County
David Leo
64 years old
Spartanburg County
Brechue Wiles
23 years old
Spartanburg County
Lois Smith
31 years old
Sumter County
William Lawrimore
44 years old
Williamsburg County
Name Withheld
by family’s request
64 years old
York County
Unknown
Domestic violence affects us all.
Domestic violence cuts across gender, race, and ethnicity. People in every socioeconomic status experience this type of violence. Domestic violence victims are all around us: in our neighborhoods, workplaces, and our places of worship.
Therefore, let us have a moment of silence to remember those victims of whom we are unaware.
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