JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Family and loved ones held a memorial Monday evening in Jacksonville honoring an Army sergeant who was fatally shot in on-post housing at Fort Campbell in Kentucky.
The memorial, which was held at the Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Wall, comes a year after the death of Army Sgt. Brittney Mitchell, 27, of Jacksonville. She was buried Nov. 1 at the Jacksonville National Cemetery.
"It's been rough for the family," said Rod Hughes, Mitchell's father. "Every day we think about her."
A federal grand jury returned an indictment charging her estranged husband, Victor Silvers, with first-degree murder and attempted first-degree murder in the Oct. 14, 2018 shooting that killed Mitchell, and wounded her friend. The indictment also charges him with domestic violence.
An arrest affidavit showed the two were in the middle of a divorce and Mitchell had obtained a restraining order.
Hughes said he wasn't aware the couple was having problems.
“I wish I would have known what was going on, talk to her maybe encourage her to do something different," he said.
Hughes said the purple balloons released during Mitchell's memorial represent domestic violence awareness.
"Don't be quiet. Speak out, because I believe if she would have spoke out, we probably would have been able to help her a little more. We wouldn't be doing this tonight," Hughes said.