Three months after her son-in-law was shot dead, community activist Gina Spence Farmer is focused on helping others navigate the labyrinth that ensues after someone is murdered.

She said she has been confronted by all sides of Bermuda's out-of-control violence in the past year.

Last May she witnessed the Court Street shooting which injured three people. She narrowly missed being in the C&R discount store where the shooting took place her arrival there was delayed because she forgot something in her parked car.

She also lives near Victor Scott School several people have died as a result of being shot in the neighbourhood, some of whom she knew.

However she said the violence really hit home when her daughter's husband, James Lawes, was murdered on March 19.

The combination of events she said, has caused her to feel as if she has been walking through the shadows of the valley of death.

But instead of allowing the tide of violence to pull her under, Mrs. Spence Farmer said she's used the strength of her faith to be an advocate for others.

Mr. Lawes, 26, was shot along with fellow Jamaican Maurice Martine and Bermudian Robin Stovell outside Place's Place on Dundonald Street.

Mrs. Spence Farmer said her daughter Greashena was on the scene within minutes. She held her husband, who had suffered a bullet in his stomach and leg, until he was rushed by ambulance to King Edward VII Memorial Hospital (KEMH). Mrs. Spence-Farmer and her daughter followed.

When they arrived they were taken to a room to wait along with the families of the other two victims. The hospital was on lock-down, something that is not uncommon after a shooting in Bermuda.

"The situation was quite tense," Mrs. Spence Farmer said. "There were people screaming, punching walls, and we didn't all know each other. It was six to eight hours before a doctor came to speak to anyone. All four operating rooms were being used as someone had been chopped [in a separate incident]. All of the doctors and nurses were working.

"The doctor spoke to [one of] the other [families and] we could all hear what he said as there was nowhere to pull them aside to. This was the only room they had. You could see the staff was doing everything they could to help, but they didn't have the resources."

Mrs. Spence-Farmer said the room should be equipped with what she considered basic necessities a list of all church leaders on the Island so they can be called in to help with counselling, a list of consulate contacts in case those involved are not Bermudian and extra plugs so people can charge their phones.

"We couldn't leave the hospital," she said. "We had people calling Jamaica, calling family overseas and locally, and there was nowhere to charge. People's phones were dying. It's the small things like this that can really make a big difference."

Counsellors should be on hand as well as Police liaison officers, she added.

More than 12 hours after she and her daughter arrived at KEMH they were told that Mr. Lawes had lost a lot of blood and still had a bullet lodged in his stomach. They were unable to remove it until he stabilised.

This window of time was a blessing, Mrs. Spence Farmer said. It allowed her daughter to be with her husband, who was unable to talk but was conscious. The pair left KEMH late on March 20 thinking Mr. Lawes had pulled through the woods. At 5 a.m. the phone rang and they were told his heart had given out.

"The doctors told us that people aren't supposed to live after losing that much blood," she said. "They were surprised he made it out of the first operating room. That 24 hours he lived was a blessing to us, we know that God had something to do with it."

But the family found that in the midst of their grief they had another battle ahead: how to pay for a funeral and arrange the transportation of Mr. Lawes across international borders so he could be buried with his family. Through the Jamaican Association, Augustus Funeral Home, churches, kind donations and assistance from persons able to navigate the red tape, they succeeded. He was buried in Temple Hall New Testament Church of God in St. Andrew, on April 3.

"Because of who I am I was able to call people and try and work out visas when we thought James might live for his mother to come," she said. "I could call pastors for help. I went to the press to try and help raise money and I knew who to go to.

"But what about the other families? What about the people that don't know who to go to, and are stuck under layers and layers of grief?"

In a country as rich as Bermuda, Mrs. Spence-Farmer said it is time that such resources are made available to families going through the ordeal of losing a loved one. Simple things like counselling can make all the difference, which is why her family is now attending sessions.

"We have the church," she said. "But don't think that that is enough, you need the professional counselling too. Don't kid yourselves. And those services are available, some of them free. People just have to know where to go to get them."

She said she has made it her mission to advocate for more resources and information for families grieving, particularly in the hospital and through Police. She said her ideas have been well received by both institutions.

"I am not saying this to criticise," she said. "Bermuda was not used to this, but there have now been nine murders in the last 12 months. We need to do something."

And while returning to the Island after the funeral should have brought comfort to the family, it was unsettling.

They returned from Jamaica shortly after Easter to learn that Kimwandae Walker had been shot dead in front of children on Victor Scott School field on Good Friday, and three others were shot at Western Stars Sports Club on St. John's Road two days later.

Added to that is the fact that Mr. Lawes' killer is still out there; no one has been arrested to date.

"I can only speak for myself, but it is an eerie feeling," she said. "I go to football games and I walk around Hamilton and I think, 'Is that him? Is that him? Is that the guy who killed James?', as people pass by.

"Because we live on a small Island this is exacerbated, there is no place to run, to hide or to grieve."

She said her daughter is coping and meanwhile, her grandson is hurting. Mr. Lawes was the one who would pick him up from school and play football with him on weekends, Mrs. Spence Farmer said. The silver lining is that all three of her daughters have strengthened their relationship with God as a result of the violence that struck their family.

And while she readily admits the death of Mr. Lawes tested her faith, she said she has survived it though the help of God and is now on a mission to help others get through similar tough times.