THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, April 21, 1996 TAG: 9604190212
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: 14 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY SUSAN W. SMITH, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Short : 48 lines
City officials and the Chesapeake Chapter of Murdered Children Inc. will participate in a tree-planting ceremony on Monday to bring attention to the importance of victims' rights.
National Crime Victims Week is observed April 21-27.
Members and officials of the Chesapeake City Council, the Commonwealth's Attorney's office, the Sheriff's Department's Victim-Witness Program and the Chesapeake Police Department will join with victims of crime and their families for the ceremony.
``It is important to remember all those who have suffered or have lost their lives due to senseless acts of violence,'' said Joyce K. Walsh, director of the Victim-Witness Assistance Program.
The tree-planting ceremony will take place at noon on the grounds of the Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court on Albemarle Drive.
Melodie L. and Larry L. Brown of Chesapeake founded the Chesapeake Chapter of Parents of Murdered Children, Inc. in 1993. Their son, Larry Brown, 25, was killed in the Crestwood neighborhood of Chesapeake on Dec. 16, 1990. His murder is one of nine unsolved murders in Chesapeake since 1990.
For a while after the death of their son, the Browns attended a support group in Norfolk. After the Norfolk group disbanded, the Browns contacted the National Directory of Parents of Murdered Children, Inc., for information to established a Chesapeake chapter.
The support group now has 30 members. It meets the second Monday of every month at Great Bridge Baptist Church from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.
``We invite those who need support to come as long as they need for comfort and strength to grow and move on with their lives,'' Melodie Brown said.
Plans are under way to establish a serenity garden with benches and sculptures as a memorial garden in the Chesapeake court complex. The garden will be another source of comfort and a way of remembering, said Melodie Brown.
President Clinton and Gov. George F. Allen will sign proclamations on Monday to declare National Crime Victims' Week. MEMO: For more information about the Chesapeake Chapter of Parents of Murdered
Children, contact Melodie L. or Larry L. Brown at 482-3934.
by CNB