Nationwide vigil marking crime victims rights week in Detroit

(WJBK) - On a chilly and rainy day in buildings across the country people who have been shot, stabbed, and beaten, people who have been violently attacked get a moment of catharsis to explain what happened in one of their darkest moments in life, like one woman dropped off after being beaten mercilessly.

"He beat me with a dog chain, by that time I went into a seizure, I leaned over and he said ‘don’t look into the mirror B’ and he punched me in the face again."

Now Angela Hurst has to get several shots in her back and hands every month. 

“He took my hand and crushed it so hard I can’t use my hands just holding this bottle in my hands makes me shake," she said.

She says her boyfriend beat her and tossed her out his car, like garbage.

In several cities, the people who have survived for many, the unimaginable, speak and most importantly heal.

 "I was shot twice in my back the bullets pierced my lungs and was an inch away from my spinal cord," Aswad Thomas said.

The vigils providing a moment to come together, something Aswad Thomas with Crime Survivors for Safety and Justice knows. 

“That’s when my healing journey started when I started to share my story and connect with individually in my community who were experiences the same trauma,” Thomas said.

Crime survivors for safety and justice is also focused on the underline causes of crime and stopping the cycle of crime by prioritizing prevention and putting people in jail less and focusing on health, education, and poverty.