Crime victims to be recognized in ceremony

Donald A. Promnitz, The Hanford Sentinel, Calif.
·2 min read

Apr. 21—HANFORD — With National Crime Victims' Rights Week coming to a close, the Kings County District Attorney's Office is preparing to unveil two new quilts of recognition to compensate for last year's cancellation.

According to Julia Patino, victim witness program coordinator for the DA's office in Hanford, the week will culminate in a live showing of the previous years' quilts at First Baptist Hanford from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. Thursday. A virtual unveiling will then be held for the 2019 and 2020 quilts.

On each of these, there are patches created by the families of homicide victims from Kings County. For the 2019 quilt, there were nine patches, but last year, that number jumped to 15.

Patino added that while this gives context to the increase in homicide cases for the area, it's only a glimpse at the problem.

"Some families aren't quite ready yet and so even though we have 15 squares on this year's quilt, we had several rejections," she said. "People just said 'I'm not ready yet.'"

However, the week is not simply one of reaction to past tragedies, but one of education and the goal of prevention of future tragedies. This includes awareness on such problems as abuse and domestic violence.

"Sometimes we say that we treat every domestic violence case like a homicide, so it doesn't become one," said Phil Esbenshade, the executive assistant district attorney for Kings County.

By being exposed to domestic abuse, witnesses also run the risk of one day continuing this cycle both as perpetrators and victims, said District Attorney Keith Fagundes.

"There's a high percentage of likelihood to become one because behavior is normalized," Fagundes said. "Because you see it so much you're desensitized to it."

Through education, Patino, Esbenshade, Keith Fagundes hope to prevent a circle of violence from continuing in the lives of many.

The reporter can be reached at Dpromnitz@hanfordsentinel.com.

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