Lorain County Safe Harbor hosts vigil for domestic violence victims

ELYRIA — Fifty-one names and stories were on display at Lorain County Safe Harbor on Friday evening. The Silent Witness exhibit captured some of the lives lost to domestic violence in the county, the life-sized red silhouettes lit by votive candles with small placards on each telling the person's, or family members' names and how their lives were cut short. Outside the advocacy center a tree held ornaments with each name. Tamara Vince looked for her daughter Cyarah's among the ornaments, moving it to a more prominent place. It had been more than four years since Cyarah Vince, 23, was shot and killed by her boyfriend, Austin Altomare in the couple's Lorain apartment on March 26, 2020. Altomare was found guilty on three counts of murder, one count of involuntary manslaughter, two counts of felonious assault, one count of having weapons under disability and one count of possession of drugs, all felonies, and sentenced to 20½ years in prison before being eligible for parole in a December 2021 trial. For Tamara Vince, her daughter's murder took her best friend from her, she said Friday evening. She was Vince's only child. "She brightened up so many people's lives, she was just a ray of sunshine," Vince said. "Kids gravitated toward her and she loved hanging out with older people." She said her daughter worked at Wesleyan Village and would come home with stories of the senior citizens she cared for, telling her mother they "melted her heart." The 23-year-old had planned to go back to school to become a nurse. "That was taken from her," Vince said. Vince flew from her home in Virginia on Friday morning to attend Lorain County Safe Harbor's second annual vigil for lives lost to domestic violence. She shared Cyarah's story during the evening's event, including information about the Cyarah Vince Foundation, which hopes to spread the young woman's story and support domestic violence shelters and advocacy groups like Safe Harbor. It hosts an annual benefit around Cyarah's birthday each April, with much of the proceeds helping Safe Harbor and its clients. Inside the center, Stephanie and Ali Alzaki, of Hilliard, stood beside their daughter Katlyn Kurtz' silhouette. Kurtz, 29, was shot and killed in her Eaton Township home on May 26. Her boyfriend, Clifford Serafine Jr. has been charged in connection with her death. Staff from Lorain County Safe Harbor set up a ring of votive candles and white flowers in front of Kurtz' silhouette, denoting her as the newest addition to the Silent Witness exhibit. Ali Alzaki said Kurtz was known to take care of stray cats, often adopting them and paying for their vet bills. It was trait she had as a child, Stephanie Alzaki said — always bringing home a new animal to care for. Kurtz left behind three children, now ages 2, 4 and 8. When going through Kurtz' things, Stephanie Alzaki said she found recipes for slime and playdough alongside her daughter's favorite meals to cook. "That just made me laugh because I was just like that is just so her," Stephanie Alzaki said. She never forgot a birthday, Ali Alzaki said, and loved his shrimp and rice recipe. Stephanie Alzaki found solace surrounded by families of others lost to domestic violence. "You don't know until you've lost a child, you don't know what somebody's (going through)," she said. "It kind of binds you, being around other people. It's like, not healing but it definitely helps." Lorain County Safe Harbor operates Genesis House, the only domestic violence shelter in Lorain County, as well as support services and legal advocacy for victims and a 24-hour crisis hotline at (440) 244-1853. Last year, the organization served 184 adults and 181 children who spent more than 5,000 nights in shelter, Executive Director Jill Psota-Vazquez said. Its shelter has been full since April 2023. For more information, or to volunteer or donate visit genesishouseshelter.org. Contact Carissa Woytach at (440) 329-7245 or cwoytach@chroniclet.com.