A little more than four months has passed since Charlottesville, Va., native Heather Heyer was killed after a car plowed through a group of people protesting a horrific, and ultimately deadly, white supremacist rally there.
On Wednesday the city will continue to honor her memory, designating part of Fourth Street, where the gray Dodge Challenger rammed its way through the crowd, as “Honorary Heather Heyer Way.”
According to the Associated Press, Heyer’s mother, Susan Bro, is scheduled to speak at the street dedication, voicing her support of the move by the city to continue to remember her daughter.
“This puts her death spot on the map, so to speak,” Bro told the newswire.
Heyer, a legal assistant, was one of many protesters who came out Aug. 12 to counterprotest the white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, which some experts have called the biggest gathering of white nationalists in a decade.
As the counterprotesters made their way through the downtown area, singing and chanting, the car, which authorities say was driven by 20-year-old James Alex Fields Jr., plowed into the crowd, sparking panic.
Fields, who has been described as having a keen interest in Adolf Hitler and Nazi Germany, was arrested and is facing charges of murder, along with nine other felonies. As AP notes, last week a judge agreed to upgrade a second-degree murder charge to first-degree murder, per the request of prosecutors.
“I was relieved to see evidence I believe validated the stronger charge,” Bro said.
Bro still has not said if she plans to file a lawsuit in connection with her daughter’s death, saying only that “time will tell.”
Bro, who quit her job as a secretary and bookkeeper following her daughter’s death, now spends time ensuring that her daughter’s legacy and what she died fighting for is not forgotten. She currently is the president and chair of the board of the Heather Heyer Foundation, which established a scholarship program for students “passionate about positive social change.”
Read more at USA Today.