SHREVEPORT – LSUS biology sophomore Sky Bates wrote on every cup and put together every bio for the exhibit “An empty place at the table/silent witness” displayed Monday in the University Center’s DeSoto Room.
The exhibit honors victims who died from domestic violence in recent years. A plate complete with a full set of utensils -- representing the empty places left at the dinner table – sits next to rows of cups, teddy bears and pacifiers.
Fifty-six cups, bears and pacifiers lined the table for each man, woman and child taken by a domestic violence incident in Louisiana in 2022.
Bates researched the nearly 25 biographies that adorned the walls, but her passion on this topic stems from a friendship with one of the victims.
Jamecia “Mookie” Adkins was shot and killed by her boyfriend in their DeSoto Parish home on Aug. 29, 2022.
Adkins has three sons, and those sons often stay at Bates’ home with her own three children in Grand Cane when family members are unable to care for Adkins’ boys.
“I want people to know that there is outreach because (Jamecia) didn’t have that,” said Bates, who serves as an outreach coordinator in LSUS’s Tile IX office. “She didn’t know there was a number to text to get help.
“She didn’t know there was a way out where her children could stay in the same school and not be taken away from her.”
Bates, a mother in her 30s who is studying to become a doctor, hopes the exhibit had a meaningful impact on people.
“Researching these stories impacted me, and I hope people know there is help out there,” said Bates, who hopes to start a nonprofit organization after launching her medical career. “It’s important that these people aren’t forgotten.”
People like 12-year-old Xzavier Perry, who was shot and killed by his stepfather in 2021. Perry’s mother Adrianna Rigsby and brother Joshua also died in the shooting and were remembered in the exhibit.
The Title IX Office curated the exhibit using statewide statistics and research.
If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, call 1-800-799-7233 or text START to 88788.
