HAMPTONBURGH – About 150 people attended the solemn Crime Victims’ Week Ceremony on Thursday evening at the Orange County Arboretum in Thomas Bull Park in Hamptonburgh. The national event was organized locally by the Orange County Coalition for Crime Victims’ Rights.
The ceremony included a roll call of victims’ names
Orange County District Attorney David Hoovler said that this event is for the families of the victims, for them to know that their loved ones are not forgotten, including those involved in cases that have yet to be solved.
“There are people who are missing, who are presumed dead but have never been found,” said Hoovler. “We’re here to remind them [the families] also that we have not given up on those cases. We’re still working on those cases, the District Attorney’s Office, and law enforcement.”
Orange County Clerk Annie Rabbitt shared publicly for the first time her emotional story about when she first learned of the murder of one of her employees, Marie, just after Thanksgiving, and how that tragedy has impacted her and her staff.
“My heart is broken,” Rabbitt said. “God bless those who have the strength to be here tonight.”
The ceremony included a candle-lit procession to a magnolia tree planted in the name of the victims, as well as prayer, reflections and other remarks by Reverend Gary Fox of the First Presbyterian Church of Hamptonburgh, Deputy Commissioner of Emergency Services for Orange County Craig W. Cherry, Orange County Director of Probation Derek J. Miller, as well as survivors of crime, including homicide and drunk driving. The ceremony concluded with a reading of names of all those who were victims of crime in Orange County.
