Oklahoma families to honor DUI victims at State Capitol, push for stronger laws at second annual event

Families of DUI victims will gather at the State Capitol on Monday for the second annual DUI Victims Awareness Day, an event aimed at honoring those lost to impaired driving and advocating for tougher DUI legislation.

Raising Awareness and Honoring Victims

The event is organized by VOID (Victims of Impaired Drivers), a group dedicated to supporting families affected by drunk and impaired driving. Jeff and Kristy Murrow, who founded VOID after losing their daughter in a DUI crash, say the event is about both remembrance and change.

“Well, tomorrow we’ll be hosting families and friends of victims of impaired drivers from all over the state,” Jeff Murrow said. “We have some pretty distinguished people who will be speaking to them, and we will just be honoring our victims and raising awareness of the dangers of impaired driving.”

A Personal Tragedy Turned Into Advocacy

For the Murrows, the issue is deeply personal.

“Well, back in October of 2020, we lost our 19-year-old daughter Marissa to a repeat offender, a drunk driver who was leaving a wedding,” Kristy Murrow said. “And prior to that, we were like every other family, I think, in Oklahoma who can't imagine it ever happening to them. And that was where we were at that time. And when it happens to you, you realize what a huge problem it actually is for our state. And after a few years, we really felt called to do something about this. It’s got to stop.”

VOID Provides a Community for Families

VOID offers a support system for families who share the same painful experience.

“Well, it’s a fantastic group,” Jeff said. “It’s a place where people can come that have this in common and lean on each other. We have hundreds of families, unfortunately, and we’re just growing every week with new families or victims, some surviving victims. And so our hope is to give them a voice at the Capitol and to have an opportunity to ask our lawmakers to support stronger DUI legislation.”

Pushing for Legislative Change

The Murrows and VOID are advocating for tougher DUI laws, with five bills introduced this legislative session aimed at reducing impaired driving deaths.

“Well, it’s about how we honor victims,” Jeff said. “You know, it’s one thing to hold each other’s hands, but it’s another thing to use the tragedy that’s affected our lives to prevent future tragedies for someone else. And that’s really the best way to honor our victims. And so VOID has introduced five bills this legislative session. And, you know, our families are coming to the Capitol to send that message, support these bills.”

The group hopes their collective voice will make a difference.

“Absolutely,” Kristy said. “When one family goes to the Capitol, you tend to experience a lot of condolences. When families come together at the Capitol, it really says, we’re after change. More than condolences. And that’s what we really hope to get. And there’s a lot of ways to go about the wrong-way driving and excessive speeding and just the repeat offender issue. All of those things—you have to attack it from multiple directions in order to really make some meaningful change.”