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Family of TCU student Molly Matheson keeps legacy alive by starting nonprofit

"Project beloved" is a nonprofit they've started to change the conversation about sexual assault.

FORT WORTH, Texas -- Tracy Matheson didn't know her 22-year-old daughter had a tattoo until after she died. Tracy shows off her fresh ink, the same tattoo, the word "beloved," a daughter once hid from her mom.

"She knew she was beloved in God's eyes," Matheson said.

Molly Matheson was found dead inside her TCU area apartment in 2017. She had been raped and murdered.

The suspect, Kimbro Gerald, is charged with capital murder in Matheson's death and is a suspect in a second murder and another rape dating back to 2014.

"Here I am staring it in the face a year later, and I'm still here and still standing and determined that this isn't the end of the story, there's more to be told and more to do," Matheson said.

Matheson knew her attacker. She was a victim of sexual assault. Something that her parents are on a mission to stop.

"We want to be seen as something other than angry and victims because we're not going to be angry victims. We're going to be an advocate for change," said David Matheson, Molly's father.

On the one year anniversary of their daughter's death, they announced the next chapter of her story.

"Project beloved" is a nonprofit they've started to change the conversation about sexual assault.

"We vowed that day that we were going to make something good come from something so horrific," David Matheson said.

From providing support to sexual assault victims in the hospital to educating young students, their life mission now is to stop assaults from impacting any family.

"I can't explain it other than it was just this feeling inside of me -- we've got to figure out a way to keep this going and take this horrific nightmare and use it to be a catalyst for change," Tracy said.

Molly was just 22 when she died -- she was a dancer who was studying social work. She wanted to change the world. Her parents want to make sure she still does.

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