Foster Mom Is Named ‘Hero of Year’

A Ventura police services officer who became a foster mother to two young sisters she helped rescue from an unfit home was honored Wednesday for her heroism and generous spirit.

With her proud foster daughters looking on, a teary-eyed Laura Robinson accepted the second annual “Hero of the Year” award from the Ellie Liston Crime Victims’ Assistance Program.

The district attorney-sponsored program provides support and advocacy services to victims of violent crime and their families. About 100 people gathered at the Ventura County Government Center for the event, which has been observed locally each year since 1989 to commemorate National Crime Victims’ Rights Week.

Dist. Atty. Michael D. Bradbury told the audience that victims of violent crime have won important victories since the event’s beginning, including access to paid advocates who can shepherd them through the often-bewildering court system and the right to speak at a defendant’s sentencing.

“Those of us with a little gray in our hair will remember that a little more than 21 years ago, when you were a victim of crime and your life fell apart, there was no one to help you put the pieces back together,” Bradbury said.

The story behind this year’s award recipient started late last year when Robinson found the two girls living with a mother who was unable to provide for them.

Catherine M. Duggan, who directs the 22-member advocates’ unit, said the sisters, who had been abused by their father, had few clothes and lived off the subsidized meals they received at school until Robinson launched a fund-raising effort on their behalf and decided to take them into her home.

Also attending Tuesday’s ceremony was Shelly Holland, whose 17-year-old daughter, Nichole Hendrix, was fatally stabbed three years ago. Holland said she had volunteered to sell T-shirts, the proceeds of which went to aid financially strapped crime victims, as a way of repaying the kindness of two victims’ advocates who stood by her side after Nichole’s brutal killing.

“I could not have done it without them,” she said.

In addition to keeping her family apprised of court dates, sitting beside her in the courtroom and helping her make funeral arrangements, Holland said, advocates Valerie Cirino-Paez and Jose Velasco were always there to provide emotional comfort.

“They make you feel like you are a part of them,” Holland said.

Later in the day Wednesday, Bradbury’s office announced it would seek the death penalty against David Ziesmer, 27, and Michael Bridgeford, 24, who are charged with murder in the death of Holland’s daughter.

Duggan said her employees constantly remind themselves that although violent crime rates have been falling, “those statistics don’t mean much” to someone who has been traumatized by a crime.

“We will not rest until crime victims’ rights are not just honored annually, but remembered daily,” she said.

Liston died of breast cancer last year, and both the annual hero award and the victims’ assistance program have been named in her memory.

Besides Robinson, the victims’ assistance program honored nine other law enforcement officers and advocates for acts of uncommon compassion.

They included Ventura Police Det. Brenda Copean, for her work with victims of domestic violence; Ventura Police Officer Dwight Thompson, who bought a bus ticket for a domestic-violence victim wanting to flee the city; Deputy Dist. Atty. Douglas Ridley, for his work with families of people killed in vehicular manslaughter cases; and Bernard Chase, an Oxnard detective who replaced a beloved jacket that belonged to a teenage girl taken hostage at Hueneme High School in January.

Also honored were Debbie DeMattia, a senior sheriff’s deputy who has helped secure criminal convictions by obtaining a suspect’s confession and testimony from reluctant witnesses; Rosario Gonzalez, an investigative assistant for the district attorney who has worked with and counseled victims before court appearances; Sheriff’s Deputy Mike McConville, for his sensitivity in dealing with grieving families; Barbara Graziani, a volunteer in the victims’ assistance program; and Connie Young, a program staff member.