Shelter hosts candlelight vigil

News-Topic - 10/17/2021

Oct. 15—LENOIR — In honor of Domestic Violence Awareness Month, the Shelter Home of Caldwell County hosted its annual awareness event on Thursday.

This year's theme was a candlelight vigil, "Light a Candle, and Let Us Never Forget," in remembrance of Tracy Renee Rash and Elijah Dale Summerow, who were killed in domestic violence disputes in Caldwell County last year.

Brenda Mathis, the mother of Rash, addressed attendees and spoke about her daughter.

"She was a good mom, a wonderful daughter..she was an angel," she said. "Everybody told me she was an angel, and I tell them, yes she was my angel from the day she was born, and she will always be my angel."

"It's hard," she said, "I tried to save her, and I couldn't."

Mathis knew her daughter was in danger on the night of her death and went to help Rash. When Mathis arrived at her daughter's location, Mathis found her outside on the side of the road near the brink of death from injuries inflicted by her former partner.

"She went in my arms," Mathis said.

"The last words she said to me was to pray for her and that she loved me," she added, "I told her I loved her too, just don't leave me."

"It's so hard to get off my mind. I can't sleep, I go to bed at night and it's hard to sleep..I see my baby laying in my arms," Mathis added.

Mathis made a final plea to the crowd, "If any of you out there are in domestic violence, please get out of it, get help. Tell someone."

Lisa Clontz, executive director, took to the stage to thank the crowd for gathering to, "pay respect and honor to those individuals who have lost their lives, but also to celebrate the survivors."

"The candles that we light will burn with many emotions," Clontz said. "There's a sadness and grief at the loss that we feel, but there's also anger and rage."

Clontz said she feels there's an awakening sense of personal vulnerability, due to the fact that the terrors of domestic violence one would typically only hear about on the news or television have now become a reality in Caldwell County.

"The strongest and most important words I can say to you tonight, is this; we cannot go back to April 23rd 2021, when 2-year-old Elijah Dale Summerow was shot and killed by his father during a domestic dispute with Elijah's mother," she added, "We cannot go back to July the 2nd of 2021 when Tracy Renee Rash was repeatedly stabbed to death by her husband, Thomas Charlie Billings, who was subsequently killed by law enforcement."

Forty-five others have lost their lives in North Carolina so far this year, she said.

"So what do we do differently?" she posed. "Domestic violence is about one thing, and one thing only...and that is power and control. As a community, it's time we take our power and control back."

Clontz then called on the community and services members to let abusers know, "we're not gonna take it anymore, we're not going to accept it anymore. Most importantly, our actions must speak louder than the words I just spoke."

Lenoir's mayor, Joe Gibbons, capped the evening off with a few words and a prayer, "I wish with all of my heart that we did not have to have a place like this, but we do, and thank God we do," he said.

"Thank you for being here, as we hold our candles for hope, for what we hope will be the change in the future of the way things are in our community, and across our state, and across our country, and across the world. We hope things change and we will educate people and hope they understand," he added.

Reporter Candice Simmons can be reached at (828)610-8721

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