Steve Jefferson/Eyewitness News
Marion County - The mother of a young murder victim is vowing to continue her fight to raise awareness of domestic violence.
Joshua Bean, a man who murdered and mutilated his ex-girlfriend, now waits to learn how much time a judge will give him in prison. Meanwhile, the victim's mother is reaching out to other abuse victims to keep it from happening to them.
"Through 'Heather's Voice,' Heather still lives," said Debbie Norris.
Norris refuses to let her murdered daughter's voice die. She's using the internet to speak to people in abusive relationships. Her website is called Heather's Voice.
"You click on there you are able to send comments, questions, whatever you feel," said Norris.
A jury recently convicted Joshua Bean in the murder and mutilation of Heather Norris. He stabbed, burned, cut up and disposed of her body in ten different southside trash dumpsters. His attorney tried defending him using self defense, saying Norris attacked him during a fight.
Her mother now uses Heather's story to reach others. She urges if someone tells you about abuse, "listen, because they are reaching out to you. They are reaching out to you for help."
"She was not the same person when she was with him," said Erin, Heather Norris's best friend. She is featured on Heather's voice.
The website actually reads in first person about the 20-year-old's rocky relationship with Bean.
"When it came to this relationship, she always thought she could change him," said Debbie Norris.
Norris wears one of her favorite pictures of Heather on a bracelet. The murder conviction won't silence the pain of losing her daughter.
"I would love Heather's Voice to go throughout the nation," said Norris.
Nor will Norris's ordeal keep a grieving mother from speaking to other domestic violence victims.
