SALT LAKE CITY — September 25 is the National Day of Remembrance for homicide victims.
This year, Governor Spencer Cox also declared it as a statewide day of remembrance for victims of homicide.
Hundreds of family members, friends and loved ones of those victims came out to the south steps of the Utah State Capitol Wednesday night to honor the memories of those who were lost to homicide.
Wednesday's event included guest speakers, like Courtney Hawks.
"My world was turned upside down on November 30th of 2010, when my grandmother was brutally murdered her home base book store," said Hawks.
Hawks spoke to the crowd, telling the story of her grandmother, Sherry Black.
"We were eventually able to find her killer and he was sentenced to life without parole," said Hawks.
The event also included live music and a candlelight vigil.
Near the south steps on Wednesday, a memory garden was also put up for the event with pictures of victims who lost their lives to homicide.
"This event is really for families of homicide victims to come together and remember their loved ones," said Brandon Merrill, the Executive Director of Utah Homicide Survivors.
Merrill says they have been putting on this vigil for six years.
It's something that really hits home for him after his cousin, Chris Mortensen, was killed during a road rage incident in Sandy in October of 2022.
"When it happened to my own family, I definitely could see into the lives of these victims that they're having what they're having to go through," said Merrill.
FOX 13 News spoke with Darcie Housley on Wednesday, who described November 27th, 2017, the day her son, Brian was killed. He was 28 years old.
"He was just in the wrong place at the wrong time," said Housley. "He was asked to help work on a car in Ogden, Utah and a drive by shooting happened at that location. They were after somebody else and he just happened to be in the way."
Seven years later, she says her son's case has gone cold.
"It's just a never-ending nightmare," said Housley.
Merrill told FOX 13 News that there are a lot of cold cases out there. With the pictures that were put up, he says helps get the faces of the victims out there and bring more awareness to their cases.
The theme of this years event was "Standing Together: No One Grieves Alone."
