Americus Crime Victims’ Rights Week vigil changes location

AMERICUS, Ga. (WALB) - The last week of April is remembered for National Crime Victim’s Week across the country. On Thursday night, Americus will host a candlelight vigil for victims all of crimes. WALB’s Jim Wallace spoke with a local district attorney to learn the meaning behind the event.

This is National Crime Victims’ Rights Week. Why is that important for Georgians to think about?

“It’s important for a lot of reasons, Jim,” Lewis Lamb, district attorney for the Southwestern Judicial Circuit, said. “We are, it’s central to what we do at the district attorney’s office trying to make sure that we are protecting the rights of of the victims in all of our cases. But it’s important for everyone to be aware of. It it’s protecting victims and protecting victims’ rights is much broader than what a prosecutor can do or what police can do. I mean it’s a community-wide thing to be supportive of crime victims to be willing to. Assist in the prosecution, you know. To come to court to testify, that sort of thing when called upon. It’s the only way. That people who have been victimized end up with any sense of justice with any sense of closure. I mean, you have people who have suffered terrible things, their families have suffered terrible things, and they are entitled like any other like. Any other person, I mean, to have the you have the opportunity to get past that and have the opportunity to live past it and it takes the assistance of a whole bunch of people from, you know, from some neighbors to the police to prosecutors, judges, and all the way up.”

And Thursday night in Americus, you’re going to have an event where people can come out and do just that. They can come out and show their support and their empathy for people who have been crime victims.

“That we are indeed,” Lamb said. “There’s going to be a candlelight vigil, candlelight ceremony, and down to it actually was previously advertised being at the courthouse on the courthouse steps, I will tell you now that because it looks like it’s going to be storming terribly tonight. That it’s going to be actually moved to a location called Lenny’s Market in downtown Americus at 110 N Hampton St. It’s it’s a large open-air pavilion used as a farmers market and other things like that but it will provide cover electricity so that we can have that there. 7:30 p.m. in downtown Americus.”

Copyright 2023 WALB. All rights reserved.