The Tennessee Board of Parole announced Tuesday that it will honor homicide victims with a “Season to Remember” event that is scheduled for December 7.
“For more than two decades, state and local public safety officials, along with families of homicide victims, have gathered to honor and remember victims and survivors of homicide during the holiday season,” said a press release. “This year will mark the state’s 21st annual ‘Tennessee Season to Remember’, which will be held at 5:30 p.m. (CST) on Thursday, December 7 at First Baptist Church in downtown Nashville.”
Gov. Bill Lee (R) will be featured at the event, giving a pre-recorded speech. In-person speakers will include former First Lady Andrea Conte, wife of former Gov. Phil Bredesen, the founder of the state’s Tennessee Season to Remember event, along with keynote speeches from Julie and John Mullinix, whose daughter and granddaughter were tragically murdered in Crossville in 2006.
Nashville vocalist Tamika Tyan McDonald is scheduled to deliver a musical tribute.
A litany of government entities are providing support for the event.
“The Tennessee Board of Parole, Tennessee Department of Correction, Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, the office of Secretary of State Tre Hargett, the office of State Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti, the office of State Treasurer David H. Lillard, Jr., Tennessee Department of Safety & Homeland Security, Tennessee Department of Finance & Administration’s Office of Criminal Justice Programs, Tennessee District Attorneys General Conference, and the Tennessee Rehabilitative Initiative in Correction (TRICOR) are working together on this year’s event,” according to the release. “Also providing support are victim advocacy group You Have the Power, the U.S. Attorney’s Office Middle District of Tennessee and the Davidson County District Attorney General’s Office.”
The December 7 ceremony comes on the heels of the news that the City of Memphis broke its own annual homicide record with more than one month left in 2023.
As of November 20, there have been 352 homicides in Memphis this year alone, as the city continues to face scrutiny for soft-on-crime policies. The previous record was 301, set in 2021.
As reported Tuesday by The Tennessee Star, a suspect accused in the Thanksgiving murder of a child was released from the Shelby County Jail on Monday without being required to post bond. The state will trust 18-year-old Edio White, charged in the murder of 15-year-old Anthony Mason, to be present for his initial court hearing on December 5.
That case caught the attention of Senator Marsha Blackburn (R-TN).
“After fatally shooting a 15-year-old in the head, the Memphis man responsible for his death has been released from custody,” Blackburn said on X, formerly Twitter, adding that White “wasn’t even required to pay bond.”
“Criminals belong behind bars. NOT out on the streets.”
After fatally shooting a 15-year-old in the head, the Memphis man responsible for his death has been released from custody.
He wasn’t even required to pay bond.
Criminals belong behind bars. NOT out on the streets.
— Sen. Marsha Blackburn (@MarshaBlackburn) November 28, 2023
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Pete D’Abrosca is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Pete on Twitter/X.
