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On April 8, 2004 ... violence left a little girl
without a mother.
After Alicia Isaac’s violent death in April 2004, both her daughter, Kiiurstin, and her mother, Betty Ward Isaac, began to adjust to their new reality.
Their story drew attention to efforts to end domestic violence. Alicia was the first woman commemorated in Louisiana’s Silent Witness Initiative. At top, Kiiurstin Davis holds a picture of Alicia as she stands in front of the red silhouette representing her mother during the October launch of Louisiana’s Silent Witness Initiative on the steps of the Capitol in Baton Rouge.
Kiiurstin moved in with Betty, who thought her days of raising children were over. Although Kiiurstin was only 2 at the time, she took over a variety of chores around the house including cleaning up her bedroom and dusting her furniture (center).
As Betty and Kiiurstin grieved, their family (bottom) gathered around them, protecting them, helping to raise Kiiurstin and joining them in the fight against domestic violence, such as at this October candlelight vigil for Faith House.
Beyond the pain, beyond the loss….
And a year later…a little girl makes a new life with a new family.
Kiiurstin and her uncle, Darrick Ward, release balloons (top) at Alicia’s gravesite at Calvary Cemetery in Lafayette on March 16.
The 21 balloons were released up in the sky in honor of what would have been Alicia’s 21st birthday.
Kiiurstin has found comfort in her grandmother’s arms. At the end of a long day, Kiiurstin crawls into her grandmother’s lap and cuddles with the woman she calls Mama. Recently, Kiiurstin has been trying to call Betty granny or Maw-maw, but often slips back to Mama.
While Betty runs an errand, Kiiurstin(bottom) plays with other children at a family friends’ home in Lafayette. Betty does not let Kiiurstin play with toy guns in her home.
At right, Betty laughs as Kiiurstin blows out the candles during the party for her fourth birthday at their Lafayette home. The two have been through much sadness since Alicia’s death, but they don’t let the events of the past year prevent them from enjoying the happiness that life can bring.
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