Families gather to remember slain loved ones

Sunday was National Day of Remembrance for Murder Victims

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Dozens of families gathered Sunday night to remember their slain loved ones.

It is National Day of Remembrance for Murder Victims.

Debbie Pruett said her daughter, Jennifer Kirk, left behind three children, and every day the pain is the same.

"She was killed by a drunk driver four years ago in Baker County," Pruett said. "This is my first year attending the ceremony and it was very peaceful. I heard a lot of stories and realized we all have one thing in common, and that's to keep our loved ones alive to keep their memories alive."

"I miss her hugs," Pruett added. "They mentioned hugs today and that really touched me."

Her granddaughter, who was only six at the time of her mother's death, is growing up in her mother's footsteps. She even wears her mom's old shoes.

"I loved her very much and she was the best mom," Amber Kirk-Pruett said. "She would always get us stuff that we wanted. She was really good."

"I think it is therapeutic to go to events like this because it's important to let everyone know that their loved one is not forgotten," said event organizer Angela McKenzie, whose father was murdered.

At the end of the ceremony, the group cast a glass bottle into the river with a letter of the victims' names as a way to remember them.