BY ANDREA TORTORA
The Cincinnati Enquirer
COVINGTON -- Flowers were placed on a grave in silence. Soft sobs escaped as ribbons were tied to a wreath.
At Mother of God Cemetery Saturday there was time to reflect and re-energize for the fight to give Kentucky crime victims a voice. "When we become a victim we receive a life sentence," said Barbara Briede, chapter president of Kentuckians Voice for Crime Victims. "Our loved ones don't get a second chance. Many of the offenders get many chances."
Ms. Briede and other supporters of victim's rights won a victory this year when the General Assembly finally passed the Briede Bill, pushed by Ms. Briede after the murder of her daughter Lesley in 1992. Kentucky's new crime bill allows for a sentence of life without parole, a 50 percent increase in victim compensation and a mandate that violent offenders serve at least 85 percent of their sentences. Before, offenders were only required to serve 50 percent of their sentence.
The group celebrated the changes in the law by paying tribute to the loved ones they've lost to violent crime.
"I am the mother of a murdered child. Your child," Diana Henderson said in a prayer to God at the grave of her son, Brian Bens.
Mrs. Henderson fought to change the juvenile crime law after Brian was shot and killed in 1987 by a 17-year-old. The killer served only 18 months because the law then on the books released all juveniles convicted of crimes once they turned 18, clearing their records. "Give us the strength to unfold our violent fists into peaceful hands," Mrs. Henderson said. "Give us the strength to extend our families to include our neighbors."
Kentuckians' Voice for Crime Victims champions victims' rights and works to get laws changed so criminals stay in jail. But the family and friends of those killed can never forget what happened, Mrs. Henderson said.
Ms. Briede's daughter was murdered while Ms. Briede attended church. Lesley, 26, was beaten with a barbell at her home by Carlos Faulkner, a man with a history of stalking women. Ms. Briede began lobbying for the bill after Mr. Faulkner was sentenced to life in prison but with an eligibility for parole after 25 years.
During a short ceremony Saturday inside the cemetery's mausoleum, the group thanked supporters and welcomed new members. Rhonda Owens, whose son Brian, 19, was killed in 1996, was given a wreath. Her son was stabbed to death by an acquaintance. The killer was a 16-year-old juvenile previously convicted of burglary, a felony, and other crimes. Last year the killer committed suicide while in jail.
But Brian's memory and his life lives on strong. The wreath symbolizes that. Members tied ribbons to the wreath and gave Ms. Owens hugs as a song played in the background. Ms. Owens was so moved, she could not speak, only able to return the hugs offered to her.
"We've made great strides this year," Ms. Briede said. "It's the right thing to do. Victims' rights before those of the criminals."
