Balloon release honors woman killed in Ames and Domestic Violence Awareness Month

Brittany Janssen said she never thought she would lose her best friend, Maria Hanian.

The two were planning Janssen's birthday party "right before this all happened," she said.

Ames police found 32-year-old Hanian dead in a Mortensen Road apartment the evening of Aug. 19. She had multiple gunshot wounds, according to a criminal complaint.

Oscar Chavez, 27, of Ames is charged with first-degree murder in connection with her death. His trial is scheduled to begin June 7, 2022.

Janssen and other friends and loved ones of Hanian gathered at the apartment complex Saturday to honor her.

"I'm not going to let my friend be forgotten. I won't let that happen," Janssen said.

'Our butterfly': Friends of Des Moines woman found dead in Ames cannot imagine a world without her

Hanian was born April 15, 1989, in Des Moines. After surviving cancer and kidney reconstruction surgery, "it became her goal to live the healthiest life she could," her obituary said, and she enjoyed going to the gym, walking and bicycling. For the past five years, Hanian had worked for the U.S. Postal Service.

Janssen said although she did not specifically plan to pay tribute to Hanian during Domestic Violence Awareness Month — October — the timing was fitting. Chavez was Hanian's boyfriend, she said.

"For me, this was something that needed to be done," Janssen said. "I'm a domestic violence survivor. It's hard."

Janssen and Hanian's mother Peggy released two purple balloons Saturday night in observance of Domestic Violence Awareness Month.

In the U.S., around 1 in 4 women and 1 in 10 men experience intimate partner violence, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

"All I know is, court is going to be super hard," Janssen said of next year's trial. "We're all taking time off work. And we're going to go sit every day."

Related: Ames police identify Des Moines woman found shot to death in apartment

Isabella Rosario is a public safety reporter for the Ames Tribune. She can be reached by email at irosario@gannett.com or on Twitter at @irosarioc.

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