By By MARCIA STEFFENS / Dowagiac Daily News
EDWARDSBURG – At a church named Hope many gather to remember those who died from domestic violence.
This annual candlelight vigil took place Tuesday night while the country tried to comprehend how a man in Pennsylvania could line up Amish school girls in a row and execute them.
The actions which happened closer to home are just as hard to understand – 2-year-olds, one from Niles whose head was hit so hard he hemorrhaged, another from Cassopolis, whose head was crushed by an ashtray.
Becky Stowe, only 15 from Niles and Deborah Roberts, 33, of Vandalia, both were killed by boyfriends. One hadn't had a chance to live, the other left behind two children.
These deaths, a few of the many whose names were read during the moving ceremony, were caused by their own fathers.
Like the man in Pennsylvania, many who killed their spouses or girl friends then committed suicide.
To some of those standing, holding candles, these were just names, but to others they were a mother, a father or a child.
"They are not just names," said Jason Ronning, chief assistant prosecutor. His tale of the death of Austin Singleton, 2, of Niles, who was brought to the Cassopolis Family Clinic by his father, Donald Parks, "consumed me personally," he added. "Take note when you get to that name."
The law enforcement officers, court officials, legislators, ministers and advocates who work with battered women in attendance take time out each year to remember those whose lives ended in violence.
State Representative Rick Shaffer asked the community to "keep your eyes and ears open," to domestic violence.
Teresa Lewis, once a victim, now a survivor who works with other victims, said sometimes the victim can't make the call herself.
"The hardest thing I ever did was pick up that phone and call 911. If he beat me because supper wasn't done – what would he do. That's the reality," she said.
"She's not capable to call the police. Her self-esteem is so low," she said. "People say 'Why don't you just leave?' It's not that easy."
The comments are are like "preaching to the choir," said Pastor Melodye S. RIder of the Marcellus United Methodist Church, still the dead haven't been forgotten.
Theme of this year's vigil was Domestic Violence: A Crime Against The Community, This Community Says No! The awareness event was sponsored by the the Cass County Task Force on Family Violence, the Domestic Assault Shelter Coalition, Cass County Prosecutor's Office and the Cass County Youth Committee.