By Karen Gleason
The 830 Times
Victims and survivors of domestic violence were honored and remembered during the 12th Annual Domestic Violence Candlelight Vigil held Monday in the Del Rio Civic Center.
The theme of this year’s vigil was “Illuminate Del Rio With Courage,” and was hosted by BCFS Health and Human Services.
Claudia Lopez of BCFS welcomed those attending the event, and Tracy Richardson served as master of ceremonies.
Richardson introduced District Attorney Suzanne West.
West began her talk with saying in 2021 there were 173 family violence related arrests in Val Verde County. She noted the most serious of those offenses eventually make their way to her office.
“Ninety percent of those families have children that see the family violence happen, so you can see from our 173 cases in one year, we have hundreds if not thousands of people in our community directly affected by family violence,” West said.
She spoke about some of the difficulties she and her staff encounter when working on domestic violence cases, but said one of the things she is proudest of is pushing to add a victims’ assistance coordinator to her staff and thanked the county commissioners court for funding the position.
West said “happy outcomes” in domestic violence cases require many groups of people working together toward similar ends.
“I’m really honored to be a part of what we’re doing here. I hope that my office and the changes that we’ve made and the battles we wage can make it a little bit easier every single day for the burdens that the survivors bear. I hope that the way we carry ourselves and the way that we support them and encourage them and fight for them and with them brings them to a better place in their lives,” West said.
Following West’s talk, the San Felipe Del Rio Consolidated Independent School District’s Elementary All-District Choir performed the song “Take Time To Be Kind.”
The choir also performed several other pieces during the event.
William West, prevention manager for the Texas Council on Family Violence in Austin, was the keynote speaker.
West said in 2021, 204 Texans lost their lives “at the hands of someone who was supposed to love them.” He said 22 people who were friends and family members of the victims were also killed, and 21 people were injured in those incidents, including four police officers.
He said the youngest person killed by a relationship partner was 16 years old and noted that conversations about domestic violence must begin early and resonate throughout the community.
After West’s talk, the choir sang again, and the Del Rio High School Dance Company performed.
Students then read the name of domestic violence victims from across the state, as members of the audience held small LED votive “candles.”
Del Rio Mayor Al Arreola read a proclamation designating October as Domestic Violence Awareness Month and presented it to BCFS staff.
BCFS Health and Human Services (HHS) Community Services Division Executive Director Celeste Garcia addressed the audience briefly and announced that Josue Venegas, who has served as interim director of BCFS HHS in Del Rio, will now serve as the director here.
“The only way to prevent violence is to educate and promote awareness, teaching the community what it looks like, because a lot of what happens in domestic violence, the individuals who are involved, who are in the situation, may not know it’s not okay, so it’s important for us to educate the community to be aware of what’s not okay,” Garcia said after the event.
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