| Sources |
- [S23] Atchley Funeral Home, (http://www.atchleyfuneralhome.com/), 25 Jan 2007.
Edna Ella Whaley Lowe obituary
- [S23] Atchley Funeral Home, (http://www.atchleyfuneralhome.com/), 17 Nov 2009.
Leah Victoria Avril obituary
- [S106] The Mountain Press, Apr 165/219.
Law enforcement, families join to remember victims of crime
by JEFF FARRELL
Amy Thompson, the sister of Leah Victoria Avril who was killed Nov. 17, 2009, is comforted by her husband Jason as Leah’s grandmother Gladys Boling talks about the loss.
Leah Brackins, the mother of Jason Hicks, who was killed in April 2009, thanks those who are helping her get through the legal process.
SEVIERVILLE — Some were there to honor family members who lost their lives to violent crimes. A few were direct victims of violent crimes themselves. Others were there to thank the law enforcement officers and prosecutors who helped them seek justice.
And there were plenty of those, as well, come to briefly share solidarity with people affected by crime at Friday’s ceremony at the Sevier County Courthouse to remember National Crime Victims’ Rights Week.
District Attorney General Jimmy Dunn had new reason to commiserate with other victims. Dunn lost a family member to drunk driving years ago; last year his sister-in-law was murdered in Phoenix. Dunn, and especially his wife and her relatives, have experienced first-hand what many of those present Friday have to deal with.
“She suffers all the things you suffer — the anger, the frustration, the helplessness,” Dunn said.
There were family members there for victims for a number of murders and violent deaths. Stella Griffin Whitted lost her sister and brother to Gary Sutton and James Dellinger. The two men murdered her brother, Tommy Griffin, in Blount County and then killed Connie Branam in Sevier County after she began trying to find her brother.
The men were given the death penalty for killing Griffin and life in prison for killing Branam. Because there are so many automatic appeals filed in death penalty cases, their cases have remained in court ever since. Whitted said she plans to go to every court appearance until the sentence is carried out.
“I’m still having to go through this 19 years later,” she said. “I won’t quit.”
The family of Jason Hicks is awaiting justice. No one has ever been tried for his murder in 2009, although his father-in-law has been charged with first-degree murder.
“I know we get impatient,” she said to the law enforcement officers and prosecutors at the event. They want justice right away, she said, but they understand that “if everyone does their job the right way then justice will come.”
Family members of Leah Avril are also awaiting their day in court. Avril’s boyfriend, Jacob Stanton, is facing first-degree murder charges in her death. “I’m just holding on to the thought of the day we get justice,” said her mother, Shirley Boling Sanders.
Like Whitted, Darelne Addis’s struggle with the legal system continues past the conviction of the man who took the life of her daughter and son-in-law. Larry Bruce Williamson was up for parole for the first time earlier this year. He was convicted of aggravated vehicular homicide for the wreck that killed Jennilyn and Brandon Franklin.
The couple’s families collected hundreds of signatures in opposition to Williamson’s release, and the parole board ruled he should remain in prison. Williamson was actually a habitual motor vehicle offender, meaning he should not have been driving that day, much less driving under the influence. Addis said she hopes to not only see to it that he remains in jail for the extent of his sentence, but to see that others like him stay in jail.
“Our mission in life now is to keep people like him behind bars,” she said.
Another woman said she herself had been the victim of her assault. It was the first time she’d attended a victim’s rights ceremony, and she said she was grateful for the opportunity. “I’m glad you have something like this to come to,” she said.
As always, Dunn emphasized the importance of remembering victims and their families, and outlined the laws meant to protect their rights in the judicial process.
jfarrell@themountainpress.com
- [S106] The Mountain Press, 10 Jan 2013.
Help in healing
Family gives back as way to honor Avril's memory
JEFF FARRELL
Curt Habraken
Haley Thomason wears a button of herself and her aunt, Leah Avril. Haley and her mother Amy were surprised at the response when they asked for donations of toys for SafeSpace to be donated in Avril's honor.
Amy Thomason and her daughter Haley, the sister and niece of Leah Avril, are surrounded by the toys and teddy bears they collected for SafeSpace in honor of Avril, who died more than three years ago.
SEVIERVILLE —
Leah Avril’s sister and niece are honoring her memory by helping to see that kids who find themselves at the local domestic violence shelter have toys.
Amy Thomason, Avrils’ sister, and Haley, Leah’s 9-year-old niece, were just hoping to get 100 toys to take to SafeSpace when they started seeking donations this past November. They got more than 300.
Haley said she couldn’t believe it when they laid the toys out at their home to see how many they had.
“I was screaming,” Haley said. "We didn’t have enough room to put them on the floor, we had to put them on the couch."
Leah died Nov. 17, 2009, when Jacob Stanton shot her while they were alone in a Murrell Meadows apartment. A Sevier County jury convicted him last year of second-degree murder.
Amy and Haley chose the anniversary of Leah's death to start seeking donations.
“That day is really sad for us,” Amy said. “We always go to her resting place and light candles at the time it happened.”
Last year was the first time they could do something official in her honor; previously they had been asked not to do so because Stanton’s trial had not taken place.
With that behind them, they wanted to find a way to honor Leah and to do something positive during the somber days around the anniversary.
It was Haley’s idea to find a way to give toys to kids who need them, and they came up with SafeSpace after giving it some thought.
In addition to collecting toys, they got some to give themselves — including some teddy bears Haley built herself and added to the collection.
Director Van Wolfe noted they often have mothers who have left an abusive situation with just the clothes on their backs — meaning no toys for the kids nor anything else.
Having something for Christmas for some of those families was a blessing, she said, and the toys that weren’t used that way will be kept at the shelter for other kids who come in throughout the year.
Amy and Haley put signs up at a number of area banks and businesses, asking customers donate toys or give money.
Wolfe said they were also surprised to see how nice the toys were.
“We were thinking that maybe they would not be such expense toys or just something to throw in the box,” she said. "These were nice toys.”
Amy and Haley don’t mean for this to be a one-time thing. They are already planning to do it again next year.
“I think it helps us heal,” Amy said.
jfarrell@themountainpress.com
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