BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — Mothers Against Violence is a group formed in March of 2021 to help support mothers of homicide victims. Billie Webster was inspired to start the group because of the pain he felt when he lost his son back in 1993.
"I'm going to be honest. I had hatred built up inside me. I just wanted to hurt the person that hurt him. Then I had another guy tell me, you want to go and do something to somebody, who did it? I couldn't answer that. I didn't know. Then he said see? You're going to hurt another family. That stuck with me. That stuck with me all these years," Webster said.
Webster met his wife, Monica Webster, after her daughter was killed in 2016. They both organize group meetings with prayer and discussion every Wednesday and Saturday.
"If you've never been through it, you don't know. It's this sharp pain. That never stops," Monica said.
Mothers Against Violence has grown to 31 women. One mom has traveled from Pennsylvania to the meetings. A mother from New Jersey plans to travel to Buffalo to join a meeting in the coming weeks.
These moms say the pain of losing a child through homicide unites them. Mothers Against Violence gives them an outlet.
"Us mothers... We heal each other. The pain is still there and it's always going to be there. But I have mothers that know my pain," Monica said.
"There's a lot of mothers that are really, really angry. There's a lot of mothers that are in denial. There's a lot of mothers that are trapped in the mind of emotions, and don't know how to get out," Mae C. Bynul, who lost her son in 2011, said.
Webster said the women are able to help each other heal.
"They say that I haven't talked about this in 11 years. Then they just start pouring out their heart," Webster said.
Webster said the moms now want to take action.
"These mothers want to be out there talking to these young ladies and young men pulling the triggers to let them know how they're feeling, let them know what they're doing to the families when they pull that trigger," Webster said.
