A candlelight vigil was held Thursday, April 10, at the Cleveland Civic Center to mark National Crime Victims’ Rights Week, offering a time of reflection, remembrance, and a call to community healing.
Hosted by the Liberty County District Attorney’s Office, the event brought together survivors, families of victims, law enforcement officers, counselors, advocates, and community members. The theme of this year’s observance—”Kinship: Connecting, and Healing”—underscored the importance of collective support and compassion in the healing process.
“Each year, we gather this week to honor the lives of individuals whose lives have been forever changed by crime and stand in support of the survivors, their families, and the advocates—many of whom are in this room—that walk alongside them,” said Liberty County District Attorney Jennifer Bergman. “This year’s theme reminds us that healing does not happen in isolation. It happens through connections, through compassion, and through community.”
Bergman also acknowledged that April is Child Abuse Prevention Month, calling it a time “to reaffirm our shared responsibility to protect the most vulnerable members of our society.”
“Tonight, as we reflect on the impact of crime, we also recommit ourselves to prevent, to advocate, and to justice,” she said. “Your presence here tonight is a powerful reminder that no one walks this journey alone.”
One of the most moving moments of the evening came as Shelby McGinnis, the mother of crime victim Markie McGinnis, shared her story of loss, grief, and ultimately, hope. Markie, 29, was brutally murdered in October 2023 by a stranger. The man who took her life, Henry Davis III, of Louisiana, was not mentioned by name during the vigil. He was sentenced in June 2023 to life in prison, never showing remorse during the trial.
The McGinnis family had recently relocated to Liberty County with dreams of building a quiet life on a small hobby farm.
McGinnis recalled how she once held her infant daughter while watching a news story about the murder of an Amish child, deeply struck by the mother’s strength and unwavering faith.
“[The mother] said her family was devastated. She said, we are truly devastated, but we accept the will of God. Can you imagine? It was the most horrific thing I had ever seen in my life. And I held my baby so close that night and just cried because it left a mark on my soul that this woman was so extremely faithful that she, even in the worst circumstances, walked out and was real all the way through. It was very impressive to me. I had never met a woman like that in my life. I couldn’t imagine losing a child at that time. My baby was tiny, and well, this baby girl, she grew up. She was an awesome young woman. She was filled to the brim with love for her family and community. It was a tangible force. When you were around her, you felt her happy. She occupied space in and around the people we loved, and we named her Markie Daniella… My girl, when she would laugh, she would bend over and crack her belly and just howl. It was, you could not not laugh in her presence. You just couldn’t because she cracking herself up was pretty funny to watch.”
That dream of peace and joy was shattered on a Sunday afternoon in October, when a police officer knocked on their door with the news that Markie’s life had been violently stolen.
“That one sentence launched our very worst day that lasted about three years,” McGinnis said. “I can still feel the air being punched out of my lungs and my head beginning to spin. For a time, my family lived in a world without hope—no hope for a miracle, no healing, no second chances. She was gone and no hope of her coming back ever.”
In the depths of despair, McGinnis said her family was upheld by the dedication of law enforcement, first responders, and court officials. From emergency medical personnel who treated Markie with dignity in her final moments, to officers who gently returned her jewelry after washing away the blood, McGinnis said their compassion did not go unnoticed.
“All the agencies, large and small, that take care of all the aspects of society’s issues were available to us and they gave 100 percent every time we dealt with them and we appreciated that,” she said. “They lost sleep and meals and time with their families to help us and you may be thinking of course they did, it’s their job. But I say be careful, that may be their calling and it is painful to them sometimes, too. They may not have always brought the news that I wanted to hear, but they did always bring the truth, and I thank them for that.”
The journey toward justice, she said, brought new allies—judges, attorneys, investigators, and others who walked with her family through the trial process.
“When it was time for trial, we got a whole new team of friends—judges, lawyers, DAs, assistant DAs, investigators, jurors, everyone. We experienced our story with these strategic geniuses who were also compassionate and very accomplished people. They made sure the murderer in our nightmare was brought to justice and would pay for his crime. All these people became family to us, whether they realized it or not. Our kinship is real because they walked with us day by day through our personal hell.”
Quoting John 16:33, she said, “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.”
McGinnis then urged attendees to pray boldly and work together to reshape the future of Liberty County.
“Let’s pray for a change we can’t even imagine without God’s hand in this community. Something that would change Liberty so dramatically, forever. Let God move so mightily here that it scares us a little bit. It has to start somewhere, right? Why not here? Why not? Let’s believe together for children and childhood to be valued more deeply in Liberty County, so much so that it is guarded by angels and mothers and fathers everywhere, every day. To never see another child abused here because we will not permit it. So let human life become valued, treasured, and fought for so we no longer suffer the consequences of a disconnected society. Let’s take better care of each other and look each other in the eyes and love better, remembering that love is a call to action, not a flowery feeling,” McGinnis said.
She closed with a message of deep faith and forgiveness.
“We deserve to heal, guys, we all do. You deserve to heal,” she said. “And not healing to be strong enough or to become hard to survive more trauma and pain. I’m healing so I can accept love and peace and joy, and to put the color of life back into my heart. To enjoy my grandchildren’s laughter and no longer feel fear of a tragic demise.
“We have to let go of the darkness that would tear our souls to shreds and move forward into a future ripe with opportunity, purpose, and transformation—filled with all the love we can hold in this life. Because love, it does not rejoice about injustice, but rejoices with the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, and it endures all things,” she said.