The family members gathered on the hard wooden benches in Superior Court, in Providence, on a sunny day this past June. Huddling in their grief, they watched as Anthony J. Carter was brought into court, handcuffed and shackled. Carter had been extradited from Florida and indicted in the slayings of Heather Jesus and Amanda Sousa in June 2007. The young victims’ families now clutched each other as they faced the women’s alleged killer for the first time. Among the family, I’Loner L. Weaver quietly moved, passing out boxes of tissues.

This is Weaver’s job. She is one of eight advocates in the Victim Services Unit of the attorney general’s office. Ana Giron, director of the unit since 2004, says the advocates try to ease the pain of crime victims and their families. Sometimes it’s helping a family whose loved one has been killed, another time it may be helping a victim of assault. The first year, Giron says, is the toughest on victims and their loved ones. “We’re the emotional side of the process,” she says. Last year, advocates accompanied victims to more than 1,500 court proceedings: bail hearings, violation hearings, pretrial conferences and trials. Advocates such as, from left, Carlos Paiz, Giron, Weaver, Mayra Diclo, Mary Ann Khouri and Unique Lopes, all of whom work out of Superior Court in Providence, deal with people suffering because of horrific crimes such as homicide, child molestation, motor vehicle fatality, domestic violence, sexual assault and elder abuse. (Other advocates work in District Court in Providence and Kent County, and one divides her time between Newport and Washington Counties.)

They try to get victims in domestic violence cases to understand the importance of testifying against their abusers. They accompany children to court; the child may be a witness or victim, or may be in court for a parent who is on trial.

In capital cases, such as homicide, advocates help immediately — contacting the family soon after the crime, explaining the process and at times helping arrange funeral expenses. If families want to see autopsy photos, the advocates prepare them and are there as they view the pictures. During the court process, advocates solicit victim-impact statements, which “help the prosecutor mold the case,” Giron says. If there is a conviction, they prepare victims and families for sentencing. “You can’t do this job unless your heart is in it,” Giron says.

Many cases have left their mark on the advocates. Weaver and Giron worked with the victims of the Station nightclub fire. Giron says it was “very, very difficult” to get them to understand why the defendants didn’t face harsher charges. Khouri advocated for the victims of convicted con man John Kluth, many whom were elderly. Khouri says advocates have to keep in mind “that this crime is the worse thing that’s ever happened to them, whether it’s murder or being swindled out of money.”

In helping them through the court proceedings, some of which take years, advocates build long-lasting relationships with victims and family members, says Paiz, an advocate in domestic violence cases. Many times, the victims are seeking answers, and sometimes the advocates have to tell them there are no good answers. For some, the punishment will never fit the crime.

“When the lights go out, [the victim and their families] have to live with the fact they may never be an answer why,” says Girons.