Victim Rights Week Vigil brings out family and friends for national event

The local program was part of National Crime Victims' Week.
By SEAN BARRON
VINDICATOR CORRESPONDENT
WARREN -- Melanie Criss of Warren recalls how much her older sister, Susan, loved her family, and how she used to take her and friends rollerskating and to other activities.
She also remembers being 15 years old when she found Susan's body in their home. Susan was abused and killed 15 years ago by her boyfriend, Wayne Jackson, who is serving 20 years to life at the Lorain Correctional Facility for aggravated murder.
"She was like a second mom to me," Melanie said, referring to the 15-year difference between the sisters. "She [also] raised her two kids on her own."
It's imperative that victims of domestic violence get out of the relationship as soon as possible and seek counseling, Criss added.
Kathy Migliozzi wants her 16-year-old daughter Cortney Rushwin to be remembered for playing the clarinet in the Girard High School Band and for how loving and family-oriented she was.
Cortney died March 25, 2006, from a drug overdose; Timothy Wyland of Lordstown has been charged with corrupting another with drugs, trafficking in heroin and trafficking in cocaine, and his trial is set for May.
"She had a ton of friends," Cortney's mother said. "I miss her horribly and would give anything to have her back."
Vigil set up
Cortney Rushwin and Susan Criss were among those remembered and honored at Tuesday's 22nd annual Victim Rights Week Vigil at First United Methodist Church, 309 N. Park Ave. The program, part of National Crime Victims' Week, was set up to allow family and friends to honor loved ones lost to violence.
A few hundred people attended the program, titled "Every Victim, Every Time." It was sponsored by the Trumbull County chapter of Parents of Murdered Children.
The keynote speaker was Judge John M. Stuard of Trumbull County Common Pleas Court, who praised POMC members for highlighting and pushing for crime victims to be given more rights and recognition. In the past, Judge Stuard told the audience, victims were seldom mentioned beyond the context of the severity of the crime itself.
The judge also pointed out that handling grief is very personal. He offered empathy to those who lost loved ones to violence.
"I don't presume to tell you I understand your feelings," he said. "I can sympathize with you; I can grieve with you, but I can't say I understand."
After Judge Stuard's remarks, Michael Pratt, a member of Trumbull County POMC whose brother Roger was murdered in 1988, read the names of homicide victims who lost their lives in the last year.
Afterward, people were invited to light candles in remembrance of their loved ones. Many of those who came up cried as they lighted their candle and mentioned the name of their loved one; most carried photographs of the person they lost. One woman choked up as she told of her son who died trying to protect her.
Miriam Fife, a victim rights advocate with the Trumbull County Prosecutor's office, said she wants to see more mandatory sentences imposed "across the board." Perpetrators still have too many rights, and prison overcrowding is contributing to some inmates' being released too soon, she said.