Latest news with #CrimeVictimCompensationProgram
Yahoo
28-03-2025
- Yahoo
‘More people need to be aware of it.' Crime survivors spread awareness about compensation program
AUSTIN (KXAN) – In East Austin, crime survivors gathered to tell their stories, or those of their loved ones, in order to bring awareness to the Texas' Crime Victim Compensation Program (CVC) on Thursday. The CVC is a financial support program that helps pay for medical bills, lost earnings, therapy, relocation, funerals for crime victims or dependents of victims. PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Crime victim's payment woes among worsening wait in Texas Asward Thomas was one of those at the event. Thomas is a gun violence victim himself, shot in back. 'The one thing that I remember is fleeing those individuals and waking up not being able to feel my legs,' Thomas said. 'Two gunshot wounds were inch away from my spinal cord.' Jill Henderson has dealt with trauma of losing her son. Bakari Henderson, was killed at a night club while on a trip in Greece. 'He was a recent graduate of the University of Arizona, went to Greece in order to start a clothes line, which was his passion and his dream, and unfortunately, was murdered,' Henderson said. According to national poll conducted by the Alliance for Safety and Justice, 96% of victims of violent crime did not receive victim compensation to help aid their recovery. Thomas says he didn't know about the CVC during the initial periods of his recovery process. 'I would have loved to get, you know, access to counseling and therapy to help me deal with the panic attacks, the nightmare, the anxiety, the PTSD that I still live with today,' Thomas said. Requirements to be eligible for CVC as victim or claimant include: The crime happened in Texas to a U.S. resident (or the victim is a Texas resident and the crime happened in a country without victim compensation). You're applying within 3 years of the crime (unless good cause can be shown for the delay). To read more about eligibility, click here. 'In a perfect world that we prevent all crime from happening, but I believe that if we can't prevent all crime from happening, the least we can do is make sure that every victim get access to support and healing that they need,' Thomas said. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
12-03-2025
- Yahoo
Cedar Rapids man gets 55 years after dead man found in stalled car on Interstate 80
A man convicted in connection with a bizarre killing two years ago on Interstate 80 has been ordered to serve up to 55 years in prison. Jihad Gasaway, 24, of Cedar Rapids pleaded guilty to attempted murder and several other crimes in the October 2023 death of Kemp Xavior Sherrod Harriel, 26. Iowa State Patrol troopers found Harriel, dead of two gunshot wounds, hidden under a pile of clothing in the passenger seat of Gasaway's car when they stopped to investigate the stalled vehicle on the side of the interstate in Poweshiek County and Gasaway asked them for a jump start. Gasaway later told police he'd set out from Cedar Rapids for Des Moines that morning with Harriel and that he'd covered him with clothing because "I thought he was very cold." He maintained he hadn't known Harriel was dead until the troopers found him. Asked what happened to Harriel, Gasaway told police, "We got into it." Investigators noted Gasaway never called for help or notified police that someone was having a medical emergency. The complaint also states that two bullets were embedded in Gasaway's passenger side door and that a shell casing found in the car floorboards was matched through ballistics to a gun Gasaway was carrying when the troopers encountered him. From December: Friday night crash on Interstate 80 kills driver, leaves traffic at a standstill for hours Gasaway was charged with first-degree murder and concealing a corpse. Under a plea deal with prosecutors, those charges were amended in January to attempted murder, willful injury causing serious injury, assault while participating in a felony and concealing a corpse. The deal called for the sentences to be consecutive, for a total of 55 years and a mandatory minimum before parole of 27.5 years. On Monday, Gasaway appeared before Judge Shawn Showers, who sentenced him in accordance with that deal. Gasaway also was ordered to pay more than $4,000 in fines and surcharges and a further $8,000 to the Crime Victim Compensation Program. However, Showers did not order him to pay the $150,000 restitution required under law for felonies causing death. Gasaway's attorney did not respond to a message seeking comment. William Morris covers courts for the Des Moines Register. He can be contacted at wrmorris2@ or 715-573-8166. This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Iowa Interstate 80 shooting leads to 55-year sentence for driver
