'I knew my baby was gone': Vigil held for crime victims as National Crime Victims' Rights Week begins

Wake County residents gathered for a vigil on Monday to start National Crime Victims’ Rights Week.

Felicia Thornton, who lost her pregnant granddaughter, Brittany Smith, in 2021, was one of the many families who showed up to the events.

“It was around 9 a.m. when we got the call that a body had been found [and] that it was probably Brittany’s,” she said. “I knew my baby was gone.”

The event involved a a candlelight vigil and remarks from the United States federal prosecutor Michael Easley, Wake County District Attorney Lorrin Freeman and the Wake County Sheriff’s Office Chief of Field Service Tony Goodwin.

This year’s National Crime Victims’ Rights Week theme is “How Would You Help?” Easley told WRAL News it’s the law’s job to help victims and make them feel more comfortable speaking out.

“The most powerful law enforcement tool is not a badge or a gun, but a pair of handcuffs,” he said. “It is the voice of a brave victim that is willing, and ready, to walk into court and stare the offender in the eye who caused the trauma they suffer from.”

Raleigh Police Chief Estella Patterson said it’s a collective effort between law enforcement and prosecutors, adding speaking out against a crime helps those victimized by it.

“Everyone, know what is happening in your neighborhood [and] your community,” she said. “I encourage you not to be afraid to come forward [and] give us that information because it [makes] a world of difference.”

Brittany Smith’s murderers were sentenced to life in prison. Her family realizes not all cases end like hers, and many remain unsolved. Felicia Thornton encouraged those victims and their families to not give up.

“In time, God does dispense his justice, and trust me, those people will be punished. God will take care of that,” she said.