8 Q3 - 2017 www.ParalegalToday.com
Remembering the Life
and Legacy of
Heather Heyer
The legal community lost a passionate advocate for
justice when paralegal Heather Heyer was killed August
12, 2017, while counter-protesting at a “Unite the Right”
rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. Heyer was struck by a car
that plowed into the crowd, killing the 32-year-old woman
and injuring 19 others as well. The driver—Maumee, Ohio
resident James Alex Fields Jr., 20—faces second-degree
murder and other charges resulting from the attack.
By Sherry Karabin
While the events leading to Heyer’s untimely
death are incomprehensible, it is unsurprising
to those that knew her that she died while
standing up for what she believed in.
“I think Heather would want to be
remembered as an advocate for equality,” said
Justin Marks, a paralegal at the Miller Law
Group in Charlottesville, where Heyer worked.
“She was an advocate for the equality of all
races, refugees, the LGBTQ community, and the
disabled. She did not see anyone as different.”
As a teenager at William Monroe High
School in Stanardsville, Virginia, Heyer
was outspoken, willing to make unpopular
decisions in the name of fairness and equality,
and had a big personality, said Marks, a
longtime friend and colleague.
“I met Heather in the hallway one day when
she was a senior,” Marks said. “I jokingly told
her I liked her sweater, and she stopped and
posed and said ‘thanks, Lane Bryant.’ ”
“From that moment on we were friends,”
said Marks. “I was younger than Heather, so
we did not have the same classes, but she was
constantly around. She was lively and funny.”
“When I was going through a rough time, I
lived with Heather and her mother,” he added.
“They looked out for me.”
The two later worked together at several
local restaurants, and when an administrative
position became available at the Miller Law
Group, Marks said she lobbied for him to get
the job. He later became a paralegal at the firm.
“Before I met with management, Heather
went over the job with me so I would be
prepared,” Marks said. “She not only went over
what I would be doing, but she explained how
my work fit in with the entire process. Heather
cared a lot about her work.”
Online sources indicate that Heyer was born
May 29, 1985, and grew up in Ruckersville, Va.
At the time of her death, she was living alone
in Charlottesville with her chihuahua, Violet,
reportedly named after her favorite color. The
Greene County native graduated from William
Monroe High School in 2003, and spent many
years working as a waitress and bartender
before being given the chance to enter the
legal field.
Heather Heyer Facebook headshot,
published April 25, 2014
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