Lonnie Phillips is the parent of Jessica Ghawi who was murdered in the Massacre at the midnight showing of “The Dark Knight Rises” in the Summer of 2012 in Aurora, Colorado. In order to attend the trial of Jessi’s killer her and her husband Lonnie Phillips rented out their home and bought a camper trailer that ended up on a friends property for the duration of a trial which lasted over four months. After the trial was over they sold their home and are presently traveling the country speaking on gun violence prevention and forming coalitions with other grass-roots groups. In the seven years since the death of their daughter they have been on the ground in the immediate aftermath of fifteen public mass shootings. They founded a nonprofit, “Survivors Empowered” that provides resources, guidance and a soft place to land for survivors of gun violence.
