CAMERON, Texas (KRHD) — The Milam County DA's Office hosted its 26th Annual Tree of Angels event Monday evening at the Milam County Musuem to honor those who died as a result of violent crime.
- The Milam County DA Office’s 26th Annual Tree of Angels event remembered ones lost to violent crime. Families hang angel ornaments in their memory.
- While violent crime has decreased in Milam County and nationally over recent years, local officials like DA-elect Brian Price note the increasing severity of violent incidents with recent shootings.
- For many residents like Donna Winkler, the event offers a way to remember and honor loved ones lost.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
Family —
“This is in memory of JJ Urban," one Milam County resident said as they hung their angel on the Christmas tree at the Milam County Museum.
— after family —
"This is for my Uncle Latrell Williams, Sept. 27, 2017," another resident said.
— after family.
"I hang this for Christi Coufal," another resident said.
All with one thing in common — losing someone to violent crime.
"My sister had killed the two-year-old foster baby in 2013, and I loved that little girl," said Donna Winkler, a resident.
These families taking part in the Milam County DA Office’s 26th Annual Tree of Angels event to honor their lost loved ones.
There have been fewer violent crimes in Milam County from 2018 to 2023, according to data from Texas Department of Public Safety.
DA-elect Brian Price says there's still work to be done.
“I mean, as like kind of, the county's in the process of growing and so it seems like we're getting more and more, just, kind of, violent crime," he said.
"I mean, just kind of in the past month alone, we've had three separate shootings here."
Nationally, violent crimes have dropped nearly 50% since 1993, but it’s far too many for the district attorney who’s prosecuted most of these cases.
"It gets emotional. It's difficult for me, some years," Price said.
— and for Donna Winkler who’s lived through it.
"Everybody wonders why I still come, you know, 11 years, 12 years, you know, I've been coming here," Winkler said.
"But I want to remember that baby — I want that baby to be remembered."
