Indianapolis - The brutal murder of a child would crush the heart of any parent. It was a real-life horror for an Indianapolis woman in a high-profile murder case. Debbie Norris is shattering the silence on teen dating abuse to make sure her daughter's legacy lives on.
The pain is still written all over her face. Debbie Norris is a mother in mourning.
"What I would give for just one more hug," Norris said.
Debbie Norris lives alone now in a home no longer filled with the love and laughter of her only child - 20-year-old Heather - murdered two years ago.
"I couldn't have asked for a better daughter," Norris said.
Heather was a basketball player at Perry Meridian High School, an avid reader of all things Harry Potter and a good friend to many.
"She had a good heart, a really good heart," said Norris, who misses snuggling on the couch watching television with Heather.
Debbie Norris is comforted by memories of Heather. Her house is filled with Heather's portraits and Heather's bedroom remains untouched since the day she was killed. Norris also cares for Heather's beloved cat, Mystie.
"She'll go down in her room and lay down there," Norris said.
Sometimes she dreams that Heather will return."I keep praying that she will walk through that door. That this isn't real," she said.
She feels that way because Heather's murder, in part, remains unsolved. Heather's former boyfriend Joshua Bean, convicted of the crime last September, is serving a 68-year prison sentence.
"He took my heart, my soul, my life," Norris said.
Bean confessed to stabbing Heather at his home, burning her body, dismembering it and tossing pieces in area dumpsters. But Heather's body has never been found.
"It's hard because there's no closure," Norris explained. "There's nothing physically there for me to look at to make it real. It's so hard to believe it sometimes."
So hard to believe that sometimes Debbie Norris holds onto the past, listening to Heather's voice on her cell phone. But in her heart, Norris knows Heather's voice is silenced. So she created a website in her memory called Heather's Voice.
"Heather is still alive as long as her voice is heard."
The website educates teenagers about dating violence and Norris takes Heather's story to schools, churches, and youth groups.
"I want them to know that this could happen to anybody. Never thought it would happen to us."
Debbie Norris tells teens the signs of dating abuse - signs she says Heather faced, as a teenager when she first started dating Joshua: jealousy, possessiveness, isolation and control. She saw Heather's personality change.
"When she would break up with him it was her bubbly self and when she was with him, she was quiet. She withdrew from her friends, from her family."
Heather filed domestic violence charges against Joshua twice for allegedly beating her. Debbie warns teens, "if you get hit once, you're going to get hit again. You have to take control of who you are and not let somebody control you."
From the depths of her sorrow, this mother speaks out to save other children. She says Heather would have done the same. "Heather walked out of the kitchen, stood in front of the window one day and she said, 'Mom,' out of the clear blue, she said, 'You know what? I believe I was put on this earth to help people.'"
In Heather's absence, Debbie Norris is helping as Heather's voice. "I think Heather would say, 'Gosh, Mom. Thanks. Thanks for doing this for me.'"
Sixty percent of teenage girls and 40 percent of teenage boys have faced dating violence. Teach your children to 'choose respect' through healthy relationships.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment