SEVIERVILLE — The families of victims of a number of murders, recent and past, shared their pain Friday with a crowd gathered to honor and remember them during an observance of Victim’s Rights Week.

District Attorney General Jimmy Dunn organizes the event each year to give the families that opportunity and to remind local officials and residents of the importance of victim’s rights.

Victims’ Rights Week was started in 1981, after an outcry by advocates that the justice system was ignoring victims, treating them as just another piece of evidence in a case, Dunn said. As a result of that outcry, many states have passed amendments recognizing victims’ rights, and offices like his have added personnel to help keep victims informed as cases wind through their courts. Victim impact statements are now considered during sentencing hearings as a result of the efforts.

It’s something they try to keep in mind every day at his office. “Victims are our bosses,” Dunn said.

Dunn joined County Mayor Larry Waters, Sheriff Ron Seals, the chiefs of the Pigeon Forge, Sevierville and Gatlinburg police departments and other officials at the ceremony. So did the families of victims of several murders in the county.

The family of Leah Avril, killed last year in a shooting at her boyfriend’s apartment, said that after the trail of their daughter’s alleged murderer they would be working to make more information on suspects available during a trial. They cannot do that currently because they are still waiting for the trial in their daughter’s case to happen.

The families, whether their relatives were lost months ago or decades ago, made it clear that the wounds remain raw.

“Half of me is dead forever, and maybe someday the other half will be able to live again,” said Shirley Sanders, Avril’s mother.

jfarrell@themountainpress.com