Imagine it. Suddenly out of the blue you become the victim of a crime. Your home is burglarized, you’re assaulted or something far worse happens to you or a loved one.
Now imagine having to go through the criminal justice system when the police arrest a suspect. Suddenly you’re thrown into a foreign world with various hearings, each one different, and everyone around you is using unfamiliar terms and going at supersonic speed. Worse yet, you have no idea if justice will be served or not.
Well, if you’re in Ector County you can count on Ivette Ramirez, Christina Lopez or two of their colleagues to come to your rescue. The four women make up the Ector County District Attorney’s Victim Services unit. Whether you are the victim of a misdemeanor or felony crime, members of the unit will help you through the entire ordeal.
Ramirez, victim services director, said they send out notices to keep victims aware of upcoming court dates, let them know the latest developments as the case progresses and accompany victims to court. They’ll also help victims deliver their impact statements during sentencing hears and help them when they seek compensation for such things as funerals, moving expenses and medical bills.
The extent to which victims use their services depends upon the victims themselves, Ramirez said. Some are content just getting notified about court dates and developments, others lean heavily on the “victim assistance coordinators” for emotional support.
The four coordinators, who are sometimes called victim advocates in other jurisdictions, are split between the four District Courts so they are paired with the same victims for the duration of the case, Ramirez said.
“I like for victims to build that relationship with us so they can feel comfortable talking to us and opening up to us. We want to make them feel secure,” Ramirez said. “We want them to know that we’re there and that we’re going to be with them every step of the way and they don’t have to stress and worry about things when they’re here for court.”
By doing their job, it allows the prosecutors to focus on one thing — getting justice for the families, Ramirez said.
“This is the best group of victim advocates I’ve ever had the pleasure of working with. They all care about the victims they serve. I’ve seen them stay 3 to 4 hours late just to be there for the victims when a jury returns a verdict,” said Ector County District Attorney Dusty Gallivan.
Helen McNeal knows first-hand the importance of victim assistance coordinators. Her son, Fredy McNeal, was murdered in the summer of 2017. The coordinators helped her and the rest of her family through every step of the process as his killers were held accountable through plea agreements and a trial.
Whether they simply needed tissues, a hand to hold, someone to vent to or an explanation, they were there, McNeal said.
“I couldn’t go into the courtroom and I was thinking ‘Oh, please go check on my mom’ and they’d go check on my mom. They’d make sure my mom was OK and they would sit with my mom, they would sit with me and I’d start crying. They would come and say ‘Do you need a walk around outside,’” McNeal said. “They were just very, very attentive to me, my mom and my aunt.”
Everyone from the sheriff’s office and district attorney’s office were wonderful to them, she said.
“You couldn’t ask for a better experience of what we’re going through. They made it the best they could and we couldn’t ask for anything better,” McNeal said.
Ramirez and her coordinators attend annual training from the Texas District & County Attorneys Association, she said.
Lopez, the assistant director, said during the last conference the victim advocate coordinators were each given scenarios to work through. Victims often go through an array of emotions, including anger, and the coordinators need to know how to handle each one.
“It was really helpful to work with the other VACS… everybody gave their ideas, ‘What would you do? What are the next steps?’” she said.
“It helps too because when we come back, we get to apply things that we learned from another county,” Ramirez said.
Sometimes, they just simply have to let victims vent, the women said.
Ramirez and Lopez agreed cases involving sex crimes are particularly tough, but for the most part they are able to leave work at work.
“I try not to dwell on it, yes, my heart breaks for them,” Lopez said.
The best part of the job? The hugs they often receive when a case is resolved, although they loved the bouquet of flowers they recently received, too, the women said.
“We had a family here and I told the lady ‘your daughter’s happy now too, justice was served and she’s with you in your heart’ and she was like ‘Oh, you’re in my heart, too. You were so supportive,’” Lopez said. “They say things like that and it makes it worth it.”
