Honoring victims of crime in Monterey County
UPDATE 4/13/2018 5:20 p.m.: On Friday, the Monterey County District Attorney’s Office hosted the 19th Annual Victims Dedication Ceremony. The ceremony focused on the families who have tragically lost loved ones.
Monterey County District Attorney Dean Flippo said often times the focus turns to the defendants in the case, but everyone needs to remember the victims.
“Acknowledge that they are suffering, they are hurting, everyone copes in a different way,” Flippo said. “But once a year we’re able to give them a forum where they can share with other mothers, other fathers, husbands, wives, that they’re all in the same boat and it is really empowering to them.”
Some of the notable speakers were three women who lost their mother in 1982 and had no answers until recently.
Sandra McGee Stepphun went missing after giving a ride to a hitch hiker. That man was later identified as Alfred Powell. Decades after she went missing, her remains were found in the back of a home where he once lived. He’s pleaded guilty in the case and has been sentenced to 15 years to life in prison. That’s on top of another murder sentence he is already serving.
“I’m at peace,” said Gigi Bridgers, Stepphun’s eldest daughter. “I am comforted knowing that this man will probably never see the light of day. I was so grateful that we were able to go to the sentencing. It have us the opportunity, whether or not the man looked at us or not, it gave us an opportunity to stand in the same room and say, ‘You did not defeat us.”
ORIGINAL POST: On Friday, law enforcement will honor victims of crime in Monterey County at the 19th Annual Crime Victims Dedication Ceremony.
Held by the Monterey County District Attorney’s Office, participants will see a slide show of the victims murdered in Monterey County, and give families a chance to announce the name of their loved one killed.
The family of Sandra McGee Stephhun will also be at the event. Stephhun, 32, was killed in 1982. Her case went cold for years. Earlier this year, a suspect, Alfred Powell pleaded guilty to her mruder and was sentenced to 15 years to life in prison.
