If you don’t live in Tennessee, as I do, you might not have heard of Joan Berry. But around here, people know and admire Joan a great deal.
Joan’s beautiful, college-age daughter Johnia (pronounced “Jah-nah”) was brutally murdered in her Knoxville apartment in 2004. It took several years for the case to be solved, and during that time Joan and her husband Mike became vocal advocates for Johnia’s case, even when it seemed the criminal justice system had given up. Eventually, when they realized that no progress at all was being made in their daughter’s case, they were willing to openly question the work of the Knox County Sheriff’s Office, something that brought them public criticism from many. They organized public events to rally for the Knox County District Attorney’s Office to enlist available outside resources to fully investigate Johnia’s murder. They set up a website, where they posted updates on the case themselves, instead of relying solely on media coverage. But they also actively sought out the media in their attempts to get the authorities to fully investigate, and so they could solicit tips and leads directly from the public.
Joan Berry never, ever, ever gave up, even as others seemingly forgot about what had happened to her child. Three years after Johnia’s murder, answers came in the way of a lucky break that led to a DNA match to the suspect who was charged with the crime.
Today, Joan Berry is an advocate for victim’s families, and she also oversees various charitable initiatives in her daughter’s memory. She is also the reason that Tennessee now has a law that requires suspects in violent crimes to give a DNA sample.
Whenever I start to feel too tired to go on in pursuing justice for Henry, or whenever someone suggests to me in person or in comments or commentary online that I need to “let go and just move on,” I think of Joan Berry and the other mothers like Joan who have walked this path before me. Their example helps me stay strong, stay optimistic, and continue to advocate for a full investigation leading to arrests and prosecutions in Henry’s death. Furthermore, Joan’s example inspires me as I have begun advocating for my community’s law enforcement agencies and criminal justice system to make fundamental changes in the way overdose deaths are investigated and prosecuted.
I can do this. Joan Berry showed me how.
Thank you, Joan.
xo – Katie
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