CHESTERFIELD, Va. (AP) — Elijah Lee was only in first grade when the world as he knew it became a much darker place. He was all of 6 years old the day he noticed the bruises on the leg of a classmate. When he innocently asked what happened, if she'd fallen down or somehow hurt herself, the young girl confided in him that her parents, in the midst of a fight, had hit her.

He didn't quite understand the magnitude of the situation, but it scared him. He did the only thing he knew to do: He told his mom, and he told a teacher.

Elijah's life changed in that moment.

Now 12 years old, Elijah is plann...