A mother turns tragedy to hope for women experiencing domestic violence

Thanksgiving of last year was a day one Hennepin County family won’t ever forget.

That’s when 27-year-old Raven Gant was tragically killed in a domestic violence shooting with her young child in the home.

"Right now is a really hard time for our family," said Lakecia Gant. "I woke up this morning in tears, I just can’t believe, it’s just so surreal to me still that all of this has happened."

Raven and her daughter were trying to collect their belongings from a Minneapolis house in order to get away from a domestic violence situation, according to her family.

But Raven was fatally shot by a man that she shared a child with. He was later convicted.

In the last year since the shooting, Raven’s mother has been working to form a foundation, called "Be Their Voice," to assist women experiencing domestic violence.

"I want to provide them with whatever resources that they need," Lakecia said. "Nothing that I do will ever, ever, take that pain away, but it does give me some kind of closure because I know that I’m reaching out to other women in the same situation and I’m helping them."

The pain of last Thanksgiving runs deep for this mother, but she’s driven to make sure no other family feels the loss from domestic violence.

"If I can reach out to just one person, and save their life, that’s huge for me, you know, that’s huge," Lakecia said.