“Parents of Murdered Children” to share experiences, history with SHSU students

A panel of four speakers will be discuss their thoughts and experiences as “Parents of Murdered Children” with criminal justice students today at 6 p.m. in the Criminal Justice courtroom.

There will be four speakers featured in the panel this year, three from the Houston chapter of Parents of Murdered Children and the Victim Advocate of the City of Houston. Additionally, the program will cover a brief history of Victim’s Rights, a movement which is also celebrating its 30th anniversary.

Raymond Teske, Ph.D., a professor in the College of Criminal Justice, has been teaching the Victimology class for 30 years, and continues to host the program that began the same year as the class.

Teske began having the panel of speakers visit SHSU because he wanted his students to experience first-hand the power of victim’s rights in real cases.

According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation Expanded Homicide Data, in 2010, approximately 1,200 youth under 18 years of age were victims of homicide. They account for roughly 10 percent of murders recorded in the FBI’s Uniform Crime Report.

“I want to give my students an introduction to what murder victim’s families have to experience, as well as the family’s exposure to the criminal justice system,” Teske said.

Teske stressed that the program is not for his class alone, but is open to everyone who wishes to attend.

“This program will help anyone gain insight to what the families go through in terms of being a relative of a murdered person, and also the accomplishments and failures of the criminal justice system for both their personal experiences and in general cases,” Teske said. “But I have to warn those who want to come; you need to bring some tissues, because this event tends to be very emotional.”
For more information, contact Beth Kuhles at 936-294-4425.