CLAREMORE, Okla. — Rogers County District Attorney's Office hosted its second annual "Tree of Hope" ceremony and vigil Dec. 2, honoring the surviving family and friends of victims killed in acts of violence.
"This is a building that they came to (where) they had to recount some really hard, really difficult things," District Attorney Matt Ballard said before the event held inside the Rogers County Courthouse. "And now they get to come back and remember some of the good things. So our goal is to give those families hope, to give them something to look forward to."
WATCH: Tree of Hope unites families affected by violent crimes
"It's about remembering the sacrifices, the losses that you have, but it's also about moving forward to something," Ballard later told a small crowd of surviving family and friends.
"As we walk away from this place tonight, I hope we are able to join that little bit of bond that holds us together," Sheriff Scott Walton said to the crowd.
"I think anything positive we can do, and even if it means coming to the place where a lot of it stemmed from – that makes it even better," Billy Jacobson told 2 News.
Jacobson lost his nine-month-old son, also named Billy, to a murder-suicide in Verdigris in 2023.
Jacobson used his grief to advocate for the Three Angels Bill, which went into effect this September. It revises parental visitation, especially if one has a suicide risk.
"And I have heard from almost everyone that I know that's involved in the legal side of things that it's been applied to their cases," Jacobson said. "They've seen it already making change, what from what we know it's saving kids everywhere."
Dec. 2 was only the second time Rogers County has hosted Tree of Hope, which is now an annual ceremony.
Jacobson, meanwhile, said his advocacy continues, with even a documentary in the works.
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