Samantha Satterthwaite, Therese Pender's niece, is determined to mourn and honor her aunt by raising awareness about domestic violence.

Two years ago, the Brookfield resident organized a walk in memory of the woman who, on her way home from work one day in 2005, was attacked in River Forest by her husband and beaten to death with a hammer.

"I started the walk ... hoping that people will come and stand up and try to make a change," said Satterthwaite, who at 21 is a human services major at Triton College.

This year, the third annual Walk with Therese to Stop Domestic Violence will be Saturday at Keystone Park in River Forest. All money collected at the 5K this year will be donated to Sarah's Inn, a shelter in Oak Park for battered women.

Therese Pender, a 1981 graduate of Oak Park and River Forest High School, was separated from James Pender, had an order of protection from him and had filed for a divorce. Pender had been staying with friends in River Forest.

"She was trying to get away from him and start a new life, and then he found her and killed her," Satterthwaite said, referring to her aunt's death on March 16, 2005.

This June, James Pender pleaded guilty to murder and was sentenced to natural life in prison with no chance of parole.

Therese Pender, who was 41 when she died, was an important person in her niece's life. "I had a very close relationship with her," Satterthwaite said. "She taught me to live your life to the fullest. She was a very giving person and would do anything for anybody."

The walk is one way for Satterthwaite to keep sharing her aunt's story. Each of the first two years of the walk, she donated proceeds of about $800 to Constance Morris House, a battered women's shelter in LaGrange. About 50 people took part in the first walk and about 60 took part last year.

"Something good has to come out of it. Women have to know that they don't have to suffer," Satterthwaite said.