Candlelight vigil set for homicide victims

Victims of homicide will be honored Thursday in Yuma in a candlelight vigil as part of a nationwide observance.

The vigil will be held beginning at 6 p.m. at Ramada 34 of Yuma West Wetlands Park, 2200 W. Water St., as part of the sixth annual National Day of Remembrance for Murder Victims, to be celebrated nationally on Saturday.

Thursday's vigil is open to the public. Organizer is the Homicide Vigil Committee, a subgroup of the Yuma County Victims' Rights Committee.

Beckie Miller, head of the Valley of the Sun chapter of Parents of Murdered Children, will be the guest speaker, and Yuma County Attorney Jon Smith will serve as master of ceremonies.

A wall of remembrance will be set up for area residents to post pictures of loved ones who died at the hands of someone else. The candlelight vigil will conclude the event.

This is the sixth year of the nationwide remembrance of victims of homicide. The observance also serves to focus attention on the impact murder has on the victims' surviving family members and friends.

“This event is meant to allow all members of our community to come and support our neighbor whose life was altered — forever — by the tragic, horrific and unexpected loss of a child, parent, friend or loved one,” said Cindy McGuire, chairwoman of the Homicide Vigil Committee.

Smith added: “We, as a community, can send a message to these survivors that their loss is not forgotten, that they are not alone, and that, as a community, we are here to do whatever we can to help them in the rebuilding of their lives following such a tragedy.”