'Forever changed:' Families ask Durham leaders to create office to support victims of violent crimes

"By the time they arrived to the scene of the killing, TJ's body had been taken to the medical examiner's office. They were not allowed to be present with their son. He was no longer theirs. TJ was now evidence in a criminal investigation," Jones said.

As a mortician, Jones said he worries about the people left behind after seeing the ripple effects of violence in his own family.

"TJ's father, my son, was forever changed by TJ's violent death. Like so many survivors, I know my son died prematurely with a body burdened and sickened by lament," Jones said.

The Office of Survivor Care would be a three-year, $1 million pilot program. It would create a violent death notification process, host community based listening sessions, and connect to professional trauma services.

City Council members were supportive of the idea, but also want to find solutions to stop the violence before it happens.

"The very proposition that we have an Office of Survivor Care, by definition, means that we've already built into the equation that people are going to get shot, which means that we've got to do something to put that office out of business on the front end," Mayor Pro Tempore Mark-Anthony Middleton said.

The task force recommends the council provide funding for the office in the upcoming budget. The council will begin discussions about funding later this month.