After the shock of her son's homicide and the news headlines faded away, Jenny Bush was left angry, and alone to pick up the pieces.

Her son, Bryan Duvall Edwards, 18, was shot to death during a botched robbery in the Still Meadows community last fall. The case remains unsolved. And besides the county police detective she calls frequently for updates, Ms. Bush says she has no one to talk with who possibly could comprehend what she's going through.

"Nobody will ever understand the loss until they experience it themselves," she said, weeping. "And that's what's been really hard for me. I don't want people to say they're praying...