MEDIA ADVISORY - TENNESSEE SEASON TO REMEMBER 2019

Son of slain TDOC employee Debra Johnson, Mychal Austin, to be guest speaker

NASHVILLE - Federal, state, and local public safety officials are hosting the 17th annual "Tennessee Season to Remember" on Thursday, December 5. The ceremony to honor and remember victims of homicide will take place at the First Baptist Church in downtown Nashville.

This year's keynote speaker will be Mychal Austin, son of murder victim and former Tennessee Department of Correction (TDOC) Correctional Administrator Debra Johnson, a 38-year state employee, who was killed in the line of duty on Aug. 7, 2019.

Families and friends who have lost loved ones lives to violent crime are invited to attend and hang ornaments on memorial wreaths. After the ceremony, the wreaths will be moved to the Tennessee State Capitol, where they will remain on display through the holiday season.

WHAT:        17th Annual Tennessee Season to Remember ceremony

WHO:           Federal, state, and local public safety officials

WHEN:         5:30 p.m. (CST), Thursday, December 5, 2019

WHERE:        First Baptist Church Broadway at 108 7th Avenue S. Nashville, Tennessee

The Tennessee Board of Parole, Tennessee Bureau of Investigation, the office of Secretary of State Tre Hargett, the office of State Attorney General Herbert H. Slatery III, the office of State Treasurer David Lillard, Jr., Tennessee Department of Correction, Tennessee Department of Safety & Homeland Security, Tennessee Department of Finance & Administration's Office of Criminal Justice Programs, Tennessee District Attorneys General Conference, and Tennessee Rehabilitative Initiative in Correction (TRICOR) are working together on this year's event. Also providing support are Tennessee First Lady Maria Lee, victim advocacy groups You Have the Power and Tennessee Voices for Victims, U.S. Attorney's Office in Middle District of Tennessee and the Davidson County District Attorney General's Office.