Helping Victims in the Aftermath of Crime - WWSB ABC 7

SARASOTA, Co. (WWSB) -- National Crime Victims' Rights week runs until April 8. It's a chance to recognize those who have been victimized and the advocates who help them for as long as it takes.

On October 2, 1994 Ronnie Mitchell, 31, was shot and killed--leaving his mother Sherry Mitchell to deal with the loss.

"It's so painful. It's so painful I can't even describe it," Mitchell said. "You try to stay strong, we did. Get all the answers that you could, get all the facts... and then, of course, you fall apart."

The girlfriend who shot Ronnie was never charged in the incident. When the dust settled, Sherry got a call from a victims' advocate at the Sarasota County Sheriff's Office.

"Later on, we met her at a vigil. And to this day, she's just a saint," Mitchell said. "She helped us so much, and got us started in so many things we could do to help people."

In 2015, more than 7,700 crimes occurred within the jurisdiction of the sheriff's office. Each one leaving behind one or more more victims who became the responsibility of Autumn Rapollo and her team of advocates.

"Sometimes they think we're deputies and we just have to re-explain to them that we're just civilians," Rapollo said. "We don't have arresting powers and things like that, we're here to just provide that support, and be that extra piece for them, and most of the victims that we talk to don't even know that we exist."

Behind thousands of crime scenes and court cases are these advocates. They are able to provide emotional support, legal information, and just about anything a person may need in their darkest hour and beyond.

"We'll stay with a victim until they no longer need us. Whether that's a week, two weeks, a month, a year. Depending on the situation," Rapollo said.

If they can't be on scene, they'll call people directly. Sergeant Gerardo Carrillo wishes they could be at every crime scene, helping deputies conduct interviews in the most precious moments of an investigation.

"You're trying to balance their memory recall and their emotional state at the same time," Carrillo said. "So it's easier for us to be able to put that emotional component over to a victim's assistant unit so we can focus on what our primary job is."

In the courtroom, Sarasota's chief homicide state prosecutor says their role is even more important for victims.

"They're going to see autopsy photos. They're going to see crime scene photos," Karen Fraivillig said. "They're going to hear people, eyewitnesses, testify about what happened to the people that they loved."

Without an advocate literally and figuratively holding a victim's hand, it can be difficult to obtain justice.

"Sometimes they're the star witness. Sometimes their testimony is more important than anything else I have in the case," Fraivillig said.

During National Crime Victims' Rights week these advocates step into the spotlight to raise awareness about their presence and the people they help.

"Victims don't have as many rights as defendants do. And to recognize that you're not your victimization. That victimization doesn't define you, that's not who you are," Rapollo said.

Sherry Mitchell's experience motivated her to advocate for others. She's the regional contact for the National Organization for Parents of Murdered Children, Inc.

She meets with other suffering parents, hoping to provide some comfort. However, she says closure may never come.

"The only closure I had was the closure of the coffin lid."

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