District Attorney’s Office to Observe National Crime Victims’ Rights Week with Memorial Quilt Unveiling

The public is invited to observe National Crime Victims’ Rights Week 2018 at the District Attorney’s annual memorial quilt unveiling at 6 pm on Tuesday, April 10 at the Visalia Convention Center Charter Oak Ballroom “A.” Speakers will include Ed Milam, the father of Sanger native Jessica Milam, who survived the Route 91 Harvest Festival shooting in Las Vegas.

Since 1981, National Crime Victims’ Rights Week has brought attention to the millions ofAmericans impacted by crime and the people who advocate on their behalf. In Tulare County, the District Attorney has observed the week with the annual unveiling of a memorial quilt depicting local residents lost to violent crime. This year’s handmade quilt,the office’s 18th such memorial, will represent 13 people. Quilts from previous observances will be on display that night and at the Visalia Convention Center from 10 am to 6 pm on April 11.

The theme for this year’s National Crime Victims’ Rights Week is “Expand the circle – Reach All Victims.”

“This year’s theme is particularly appropriate. Not only do families and friends of victimsof crime ‘expand their circle’ at this ceremony by meeting others just like them, our office was able to reach victims as far away as Las Vegas in the wake of October’s tragic events,” said District Attorney Tim Ward. “State lines cannot contain hurt and violence, nor canthey contain the strength to comfort those who share the same grief.”

Both the quilt ceremony and display are open to the public.

For more information on National Crime Victims’ Rights Week, visit the Office forVictims of Crime at https://www.ovc.gov/.

Media inquiries can be directed to the Office of the District Attorney, County of Tulare Victim Services Director Jennifer Lightfoot (559) 636-5471 or Public Information Officer Stuart Anderson at (559) 636-5494