Victim Assistance Academy graduates hear from one who was helped

In her mind, she can still hear the phone ringing that brought word of her son's murder 13 years ago this week. But in her heart, Francine Horne has overcome the "emotional giants" that confronted her in the years since.

Without the help of victims advocates, Horne said, "surely I would have stumbled."

Horne told graduates of the Virginia Victim Assistance Academy yesterday that the services provided through the criminal-justice system helped her find healing and forgiveness.

"You are the hope for so many victims," she told about 30 graduates of the weeklong academy at the University of Richmond.

The academy brought together people from across the state who work with crime victims in a variety of capacities, said Joan Neff, coordinator of UR's criminal-justice program and the university's associate provost.

It was the second year UR has held the academy, which was co-sponsored by the Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services.

Neff said participants heard firsthand accounts from crime victims who spoke openly about their experiences and about how they were helped, or not, by the criminal-justice system. It was an intensive week, she said, but there were also sessions on yoga, salsa dancing and nutrition to remind victims advocates to take care of themselves.

In her talk, Horne urged the graduates to remain courageous as they "bring hope out of evil."

She described a "long and painful journey" after her 21-year-old son, Vance Michael Horne Jr., was shot to death in the parking lot of the North Chamberlayne Civic Association in 1996.

She said she and her husband had devoted their adult lives to nurturing and protecting their children. They were like David protecting his flock when they were confronted with their Goliath, "the giant called murder."

Her son, who still lived at home and observed a curfew, was in what was considered a safe neighborhood, she said, but "one bullet and Michael instantly died."

She experienced the criminal-justice system as its best, she said. Counseling helped her through her grief and anger.

Michael Horne was shot in the face as he tried to calm a gunman who was robbing his 18-year-old cousin of a gold chain.

"I will never understand why he had to steal my son's life," she said.

Contact Karin Kapsidelis at (804) 649-6119 or .