Find your local Day of Mourning 2025 vigil site

Closeup Of People Holding Candle Vigil In Dark Seeking Hope

In the past five years, over 542 people with disabilities have been murdered by their parents, relatives, or caregivers.

On Saturday, March 1st, the disability community will gather virtually and across the nation to remember these disabled victims of filicide – disabled people murdered by their family members or caregivers.

In the year since our last vigil, our community has continued to lose people to filicide. These are just the cases that we are aware of – since we began monitoring this issue, we learn about more murders every week. We read the victims’ names, see their photographs, and gather what information we can about their lives. The criminal justice system has continued to give lighter sentences to parents and caregivers who murder disabled children. And we have seen the news media continue to portray these murders in a sympathetic light. We hold the Day of Mourning vigils to draw attention to these injustices, to commemorate the lives of victims, and demand justice and equal protection under the law for all people with disabilities.

Since 2012, ASAN and other disability rights organizations have come together to send a clear message that disability is not a justification for violence. To learn more or sign up to lead a vigil, view the Anti-Filicide toolkit.

We will be hosting our Virtual Vigil on Saturday, March 1st – and we hope to see you there if you cannot find or attend a vigil in your area.

COVID-19

Some Day of Mourning vigils are virtual, while others are in-person. We recommend that each person consider the potential risks, and make sure to wear a mask and social distance if you attend an in-person vigil. If you are concerned about attending a vigil in-person, please consider attending ours or another virtual vigil in your area.

All vigils below are virtual unless otherwise noted.

2025 Vigil Sites

USA

ASAN Virtual Vigil
Online

PeoplesHub
Online
dustin@peopleshub.org

U.S Gender and Disability Justice Alliance
Online
usalliancecoordinator@gmail.com

ALABAMA

Birmingham, AL
McCartney Hagar: mccartney.hagar@gmail.com

CALIFORNIA

Los Angeles, CA (In-person)
Maayan Lev: mlev1@mac.com

Orangevale, CA
Roxie Sawyer Mitchell: roxie.piatigorski@gmail.com

COLORADO

Highlands Ranch, CO
Divergence Mental Health Group, LLC
Lif Larson: lif.larson@divergencementalhealthgroup.com

ILLINOIS

Chicago, IL (In-person)
The Institute on Disability and Human Development, Chicagoland Disabled People of Color Coalition, and UIC Disability Cultural Center
tgordo7@uic.edu

MASSACHUSETTS

Amherst, MA
The Alliance Against Ableism, University of Massachusetts Amherst
fpelka@comcast.net

Brookline, MA (In-person)
Ben Davies: sisyphusup@duck.com

MARYLAND

College Park, MD
University of Maryland
lsander@umd.edu

MICHIGAN

Ann Arbor, MI (In-person)
King of Kings Lutheran Church Ann Arbor
kearnsmill@gmail.com

Novi, MI
Holy Cross Episcopal Church, Novi MI
kfbwang@gmail.com

NEW JERSEY

Robbinsville, NJ (In-person)
Christine Camarda: bliss@ccseer.com

West Windsor, NJ (In-person)
Mercer County Community College
leppertm@mccc.edu

OREGON

Eugene, OR (In-person)
AccessAbility Student Union
aability@uoregon.edu

Eugene, OR (In-person)
Jill Farrington: farr.j.1072@gmail.com

TENNESSEE

Johnson City, TN
Courtney Johnson: courtney@justkeepstimming.com

Clarksville, TN (In-person)
Inclusify Me!
inclusifyme@gmail.com

WASHINGTON

Bellingham, WA (In-person)
Western Washington University Disability Outreach Center
Axel.Cichocki@wwu.edu

United Kingdom

Mette Anwar-Westander
Online
mette@westander.se