Gathering in Shiprock observes National Crime Victims' Rights Week

SHIPROCK — Family members who lost loved ones to crime stood with community members, supporters and law enforcement at Northern Navajo Medical Center's healing garden to observe National Crime Victims' Rights Week on April 27.

The awareness campaign has been observed nationally since 1981. It was developed to celebrate the accomplishments of the victims' rights movement and to reflect on how protection and services to victims has evolved, according to the U.S. Department of Justice's Office of Justice Programs website.

These types of gatherings are powerful but highlight the courage, strength and resilience that survivors carry, event organizers said.

The event started with a mile walk that traveled south from the hospital then through a nearby neighborhood before going north along U.S. Highway 491.

After the walk, they gathered for a candlelight vigil inside the healing garden in front of the hospital.

The garden has been there since 2014 when it was built with the purpose of honoring individuals who have lost their lives to violence as well as providing space for patients and visitors to seek comfort.

Becky Johnson attended the event to remember her aunt, Betty Jean Lee, of Shiprock, who was murdered in 2000.

Robert Fry was sentenced to death in 2002 for fatally stabbing and bludgeoning Lee, according to The Daily Times archives.

However, the sentence placed on Fry was vacated in 2019 by the New Mexico Supreme Court to life in prison after the state repealed the death penalty in 2009.

Fry is also serving life sentences for three separate murders in San Juan County, according to The Daily Times archives.

Johnson told attendees that her family can never fill the void left by the loss of her aunt.

"So, I go out and I always speak her name because I don't want anybody to forget her name. I don't want anybody to forget what happened to her," Johnson said.

She also spoke about her cousin, Tiffany Reid, who went missing in 2004 on the Navajo Nation, and called on the tribal government to establish positions for victim advocates.

"They are one of the most important pieces in a victim's journey and a family's journey," Johnson said, then explained that victim advocates with the district attorney's office helped her family stay informed with the court case surrounding her aunt's murder.

Birds chirped while family members continued to speak about their loved ones and how crime affected their lives.

The event returned to in-person after it was cancelled in 2020 then observed by a virtual run in 2021 due to the pandemic.

Sharon Vandever is a victim advocate based in Albuquerque and was among those who helped start the observance about eight years ago.

"It's something we keep in the community because we think it's important," Vandever said.

Noel Lyn Smith covers the Navajo Nation for The Daily Times. She can be reached at 505-564-4636 or by email at nsmith@daily-times.com.

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