TUCSON, Ariz. (KVOA) - Nearly 90 people gathered at Brandi Fenton Memorial Park Thursday to honor victims of homicide with a candlelight vigil. The event, hosted by Homicide Survivors Inc., marked the National Day of Remembrance for Homicide Victims.
Sheyla Velarde, 27, was one of the individuals remembered. Monique Vallery, chair for the nonprofit's board of directors and Velarde's sister-in-law, shared fond memories of Velarde.
"She was that person that you could always call on . . . like every birthday or Christmas she would paint us all like a special painting and we’d all be like so excited and saying ‘Ours is better than yours,’" Vallery said.
Vallery told News 4 Tucson Velarde was murdered 10 years ago.
Thursday's event featured two main speakers, mothers who have lost their son