JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Child abuse is a heartless and ruthless crime that can destroy a child's future.
Saturday night, 76 children were remembered. Some of them died from abuse and others took their own lives because the trauma was too much for them to bear.
Nakesa Barnhill is a mother of two, but one of her children passed away from abuse.
"I am a victim, but I'm also a victor because I took back my son's voice by being the only presentation that he has left," Barnhill said.
Barnhill said her son was abused, and the abuse led to his death.
"He didn't have to die," Barnhill said. "He didn't have to be found lifeless on the living room floor naked."
Kathy Swafford, who is CEO of Safe Haven Northeast, sees many cases like this one. She hopes all victims stand up by speaking out about the abuse.
"Stand up. You hear something or know something about a child that is being abused or a child that might be considering suicide, speak up," Swafford said. "Say something, and that's the only way to put an end to it."
Instead of staying silent, Barnhill wrote a book to help others stand against abuse.
"I won't let my pain just be a hindrance for me," Barnhill said. "It pushes me not to let someone else feel what what I feel because I have to wake up every day with a daughter who looks practically just like my son. Tell her every day that her brother's not here because she has faint memory of him."
News4Jax's Corley Peel emceed the event.
If you or someone you know is a victim of abuse, don't stay silent -- speak out.