Families use ornaments to honor homicide victims
By Sharon Danquah
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CLARKSVILLE, Tennessee (WSMV) — Families delivered a tearful message at First Baptist Church in Clarksville about how they are using ornaments to remember victims of homicide.
They made ornaments with the names and faces of family members killed. It’s a way of honoring loved ones missing out on another holiday.
Name after name, grieving families from across Montgomery County said this is how they get through the holidays.
“My son Detron Bell was killed down here in Clarksville Tennessee on February the 6th in 2011. It’s been hard dealing with it, but I go every day trying to make each day a better day for myself and keep his memory alive,” Regina Brown said.
Brown said she and dozens of other people get together inside the Clarksville’s First Baptist Church to do it.
Speaking out the names of their loved ones and hanging up an ornament in their honor, but it’s not just about those who lost their lives.
“My husband was killed in 2018 by the hands of gun people and something needs to be done for young people because something’s missing,” Stella Cook said.
Cook said it’s also a reminder of the ongoing issue of homicide in all counties. Data shows Clarksville had 944 violent crimes last year alone.
“This lets them know the things that go on that’s not always talked about, just how many people there are that have homicide in their lives,” Cook said.
This “Wings of Love” ornaments hanging event happens every year, with sadly more people filing the room,
It’s an event Brown said really needed this year.
“The murderer, he just got released in September of this year, and that wasn’t a pleasing thing to hear but life goes on,” Brown said.
Tennessee Voices for Victims organizes the event each year and say they don’t plan on stopping any time soon.
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