Editor's note: This story is part of Southwest Michigan Second Wave's On the Ground Battle Creek series.

BATTLE CREEK, MI — Marnique Hopson never thought she would carry a gun. She also never thought she’d become the victim of a domestic assault, which she was in 2023 in Battle Creek at the hands of her child’s father.

Hopson is among hundreds of victims of crime and their families who sought assistance from the Calhoun County Prosecutor’s Office Victim Services division during their circuitous journey to get justice for those who violated them.

As part of Calhoun County’s National Crime Victims’ Rights Week, an annual observance that takes place this year from April 7 to 12, the County Prosecutor’s Office is hosting a community resource fair from 1 pm. to 6 p.m. on April 7 at First Congregational Church (FCC). Participating organizations include Safe Place, Sexual Assault Services, and various law enforcement agencies from throughout the County that will answer questions and provide information to those who attend.

Kelly Jo Fournier, Victim Services Coordinator, says the event is first and foremost a way to recognize crime victims and their families.

“Victims of crime are not the only victims,” says David Gilbert, Calhoun County Prosecutor. “Their families and the community are also affected by these crimes.”

The local event is part of the national movement with the theme KINSHIP Connecting & Healing, a “call to action to recognize that shared humanity should be at the center of supporting all survivors and victims of crime. KINSHIP is a state of being with survivors that drives vital connections to services, rights, and healing. KINSHIP is where victim advocacy begins,” according to the Office for Victims of Crime website.

In previous years, the signature event in Calhoun County for National Crime Victims’ Rights Week was a candlelight vigil. While that vigil will still happen on April 6 at 5:45 p.m. at FCC, a $1,200 grant from the National Organization for Victim Advocacy enabled Gilbert and Fournier, Victim Services Division Coordinator, to create the Resource Fair which they hope to make an annual event.

L-R: Journey, Kelly Jo Fournier, Jena Hess, Kelsey Kipp, Marlee Giese. Fournier is the Victim Services Coordinator and Hess, Kipp, and Giese are her team membersFournier says she and the three Victims’ Advocates working with her will be available to let residents know about the assistance they provide which includes accompanying victims to trial; keeping them updated on any motions that are filed in their court case; keeping in touch with victims and their families either by phone or in person; and just being there as a support for what they’re going through.

Hopson, a Certified Nursing Assistant who lives in Albion, says the support she received from Fournier was a blessing to her as she prepared for the trial that resulted in a one-year prison sentence on a domestic violence charge.

“Kelly Jo helped me work through what was going to happen and stood by my side. She always had time for me,” Hopson says. “I was reliving what he did to me during the trial. Having Kelly Jo there made it so much easier for me.”

Seeking justice is a trial for victims

The trial provided some closure for Hopson after a brutal attack in May 2023, that left her with black eyes, a broken finger, and a broken eardrum.

Prior to this assault, she had asked her daughter’s father to move out of the house they shared after he accused her of sleeping with another man even though she denied his accusations of infidelity. He moved out and took some, but not all of his possessions.

During this time he continued to be fixated on the idea that she had been unfaithful, Hopson says.

The night of the attack, she had gotten home from her second job in time to get her daughter to sleep. A short time later, she went to bed. A noise coming from the kitchen woke her up and she saw her ex-boyfriend wedging his hand between a door used to access the kitchen and a safety lock she installed to protect herself and their daughter from him. He managed to get the latch off of the lock and confronted her. He was dressed in a green jumpsuit, black boots, a skull cap, and holding a gun.

“I thought I was going to lose my life. He said, ‘I came here to kill you,” Hopson says. “He beat me as I went running from the front of the house to the back. He kept putting the gun to my head and my face while he was punching me.”

He also had taken her mobile phone which dialed her mother as he was beating her. This accidental call saved her life.

“My mom got to my house. She was beating on the door and got in and pushed me outside. He continued to chase me with the gun even after my mom showed up,” Hopson says. “She called the police who arrived and arrested him.”

The beating left her unrecognizable and put her in the uncomfortable position of having to explain to her daughter, who was three years old at the time and slept through the May incident, what had happened.

“It was difficult to explain. She saw me after he attacked me and saw the house all tore up. I explained to her that she couldn’t see her dad because he did something bad. It’s a hard situation because before he did this he was never out of her life.”

Hopson is now embroiled in a custody battle with him that began shortly after he was released from prison in February. He’s threatening to sue her for partial or full custody of their daughter and Fournier is once again being an advocate and source of support for her.

Although she is determined to get her life back and manage the PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder) she deals with as a result of the assault, she also is taking steps to keep her and her daughter safe.

“I fear for our safety. I’m worried about my daughter and that he will do something to us because I did testify and he did do time. I bought a gun and took a course to get a Concealed Pistol License which I’m now waiting for,” Hopson says. “These are things I never thought I’d have to do.”

Moving forward, but never forgetting

For victims and their families, the waiting process for a trial challenges their patience and their ability to maintain their mental well-being, Fournier says.

“It can take up to two years for a case to go to jury trial," she says. “Relaying information to them about motions filed for adjournment are pretty difficult because they just want justice.”

The pause on jury trials during COVID created a backlog that Gilbert says his office had to get caught up on.

“We have one case that’s been pending since 2023 that has not gone to trial. COVID shut us down but people didn’t stop breaking the law,” he says.

The top three crimes his office prosecutes involve domestic violence, murder, and criminal sexual conduct.

David Gilbert, Calhoun County Prosecutor. Seventy-eight percent of people incarcerated in Michigan are in prison for crimes of violence, Gilbert says.

“If you look at Calhoun County we are a very, very safe community, but there are acts of violence, usually gang violence. Calhoun County is second only to Wayne County in violent crimes per capita. Statistically, we have fewer police officers than other states per capita,” he says. “At one point Michigan was the most violent state in the Midwest for violent crimes.”
 
Victims and their families are often forced to relive what they went through because of the appeals process or when the perpetrator comes up for parole.

“Sometimes it’s worse afterwards because of the appeal process,” Gilbert says. “You’ve got victims’ families who have lived through all of this trauma when a relative is violently hurt or killed. Every time they have to go into a parole board hearing they get very frustrated. They’re reliving it over and over again and it's very, very tough and difficult when something happened to their child 20 years ago and they have to relive it.”

Just as painful are violent crimes and murders that remain unsolved. Gilbert says the state average for solving homicides is about 55 percent, but Calhoun County is doing well over 90 percent. Those homicides that remain unsolved in the county prompted mothers whose sons and daughters were the victims of homicide to form groups to support each other and raise awareness. These groups include S.I.S.T.E.R.S. (Sharing In the Support of Those Enforcing Victims’ Rights Shamelessly) Turning Pain Into Purpose https://www.secondwavemedia.com/southwest-michigan/features/Battle-Creek-moms-turn-pain-into-purpose-with-support-group-for-those-who-lose-children-082521.aspx and HEARTS (Hands Extended Among Randomly Taken Souls).

But, Fournier and Gilbert say seeking justice should not fall squarely on the shoulders of groups like these.

“People in the community have the opportunity to come forward and share information that may help us solve crimes, but they won’t come forward for fear of retribution from the people committing these crimes,” Gilbert says. “We’re all one and I don’t want people to be afraid to come forward.”

Hopson says this is her message and she won’t stay silent. She says she is taking back her life and refuses to live in a state of constant fear.

“I feel like God saved my life so I could help other women,” she says. “What happened to me changed me as a person and made me count my blessings because in the blink of an eye, your life can be taken from you.”