Cars slowly filled the small parking lot of the Grace & Truth Christian Fellowship in the City’s Dust Bowl neighborhood early on a Wednesday evening this summer. Around 40 people - half Greensboro Police officers, the rest a collection of concerned residents - assembled in the lot and exchanged pleasantries before Mary Nero called them together. They came to walk, as they had on other Wednesdays during the spring and summer months.

Wearing an orange T-shirt like some others in the group, Nero told those gathered this walk was on behalf of Leon Williams, who was gunned down around the corner from the church in 2020. She told the walkers the reward for information leading to an arrest in Williams’ case had increased to $30,000. Nero distributed maps and flyers to the officers who led groups that canvassed the neighborhood in search of information about Williams’ murder.

Neighborhood walks like this represent one facet of Nero’s unique role within the Greensboro Police Department (GPD). In 14 years as a patrol officer and detective, she saw a need within the community for someone to come alongside the increasing number of people who lost loved ones to violent crime. Nero stepped away from the force in 2017 and tried her hand at what proved to be unfulfilling nonprofit work. So she approached City leaders with an idea.

“I said you really need a victim advocate so the detectives can do the detecting and the investigating,” Nero recalled. “Then have someone like me who can explain the process to [the survivors], make them feel like their case is not just a case number, direct them towards counseling services, acknowledge their needs, and address their humanity.”

Nero rejoined GPD as one of the state’s first homicide victim advocates in a part-time capacity in 2020. After a tumultuous summer and rising killings, her position was elevated to full-time in 2021. In addition to gaining a greater capacity to serve victims, Nero also assumed a larger role in organizing the neighborhood walks, which were started a few years earlier by Tonya Cuthbertson and other Mothers Standing Against Gun Violence volunteers.

The bulk of Nero’s work involves interacting with families of homicide victims. She fills a variety of roles and works to connect survivors with resources to help in their time of need. Her experience as an officer helps her act as a liaison with grieving families desperate for answers.

“I take a lot of calls with them explaining what the investigation truly looks like,” Nero said. “A lot of times their only point of reference is the First 48 or TV shows and things like that. So I do a lot of managing expectations and then explaining things.”

Nero also informs survivors of available resources, such as a state reimbursement for funeral expenses or financial assistance when a family’s income is disrupted. She visits with families, runs errands, and generally provides care and support as needed.

“This is good for the city because we’ve experienced a high volume of violence for a city of our size but there’s a victim services unit to address the humanity of that,” Nero said. “We’re not just street sweepers trying to get the bad guys out, which is very important, but there's more to addressing crime and community than just getting the bad guys out of the way. What do you do for the good, innocent folks who are left in the wake of the violence?”

The question drew Nero to her unique profession and sustains her on the hard days when it feels like she isn’t making a difference. On those days, you might find the former UNC Greensboro all-conference cross-country runner on a local trail or whipping up a new recipe as she processes her emotionally stressful job.

But she has made a difference, which is why politicians, City officials, colleagues, and volunteers are quick to lend support. Thanks to a recent grant, Nero is no longer a one-woman office as the City hired two victim support specialists this spring and named Nero the newly created division’s coordinator. In addition to homicide survivors, the Victim Services Unit supports robbery and shooting victims.

“Greensboro's a pretty cool community, Nero said. “We can be rough and sometimes get in our own way, but there's still a lot of love and heart in this city too.”

-photos by Troy Herring, City of Greensboro Communications