Lighthouse host candlelight vigil for domestic violence victims

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ROBERTSDALE, Alabama — The Lighthouse of Baldwin County hosted a candlelight vigil on Wednesday, Oct. 23 at Honeybee Park in Robertsdale for victims of domestic violence as part of Domestic Violence Awareness Month in October.

More than 50 residents attended the vigil, including Jerry Sommer Davis, the original executive director and current Board treasurer for The Lighthouse, and Judge Pamela Baschab who helped create The Lighthouse in 1994 as the Baldwin County Family Domestic Violence Project.

“My first encounter with domestic violence as a judge was in the form of a woman with two black eyes who sat outside my office all day demanding that her husband be released,” Baschab said. “When I refused, she threatened to sue to have me removed from the bench. It was confusing and frustrating.”

At every turn, Bascab said, she encountered judges and officials that said she couldn’t change the system and would have to work with the system the way it was.

Two cases, she said, caused her to continue to pursue her dream, a man who shot is ex-wife and her mother outside of an attorney’s office in Bay Minette; and a man in north Baldwin County who beat his mother to death with a tire iron.

“These were deaths that could have been prevented if there was a system in place to protect those women,” she said. “Everyone told me I was jumping into the deep end and I’m here to tell you, don’t ever stop jumping into the deep end. Don’t ever stop fighting for what is right.”

Songs and poems were presented by victims and children of victims of domestic violence. Everyone present was given a name of someone who has been killed as a result of domestic violence. They read the name as they lit a candle for them.