All that 69-year-old Richmonder Yolanda D. Fox wants for Christmas is to see her granddaughter, Mariah.

It’s been nearly a year since Ms. Fox saw the 8-year-old. The last time was around 6 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 16, when her son, Stuart D. Jeffries, left her North Side home with the child and started on his way to return her to her mother and his ex-wife, Maritta Ellis.

By 6:30 p.m., her son was lying dead in the parking lot of a Chesterfield County police station in the Chester area. According to police reports, Mr. Jeffries turned the child over to her mother, but then got into a verbal exchange with a man who accompanied Ms. Ellis. The man, Corey D. Goodson Sr., then pulled a gun and fatally shot Mr. Jeffries.

Mr. Goodson was arrested almost immediately in the station’s parking lot. He has since been convicted of manslaughter and is awaiting sentencing.

Still mourning the loss of her son, Ms. Fox said she has tried and failed to make contact with the mother to make arrangements for visitation with her grandchild.

But there has been no response, and Ms. Fox said she has been unable to learn where Ms. Ellis lives.

“I have not seen or heard from my granddaughter since that awful day,” Ms. Fox said. “There is not a day, hour or minute that I do not miss her, weep for her, pray for her and wonder how she is doing.”

The retired mental health counselor is hoping that a court can help. Next Tuesday, Dec. 20, she will be at Richmond Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court.

Her purpose: To have a judge consider and grant her petition for visitation under a state law that was revamped in 2021 to make it easier for grandparents to gain that right.

Ms. Fox is hardly alone in seeking to be part of a grandchild’s life.

Thousands of families are ripped apart yearly by violence, divorce, addiction and other ills, and grandparents often are called on to step in.

Veteran family attorney E. Gordon Peters Jr. said that data show that more than 62,000 grandparents in the state are now legally and financially responsible for their grandchildren, while untold others are involved in the nurturing of their children’s children.

Still, unlike some states, Virginia does not have an independent law dealing with grandparents’ rights for interaction with grandchildren, Mr. Peters and other attorneys noted in blogs on the subject.

Instead, like Ms. Fox, grandparents must go to court to secure visitation or custody even after a family has been disrupted. Nothing is automatic on that score, Mr. Peters noted.

Ms. Fox said that in memory of her son, she is creating a foundation in his name to educate, assist and support non-custodial parents navigate the challenges they face. She also plans to lobby the legislature to pass laws to improve the legal position of non-custodial parents.

But first, she is focused on securing visitation. She believes that her petition will be granted if the judge fully considers the relationship that she built with her grandchild, whom Mr. Jeffries called “Butterfly.”

“When it was his time to have her, he would always bring her by to visit with me,” Ms. Fox said. “He was a humble, quiet, praying man who just wanted to love, take care of his daughter and watch her grow. He was a great father. I just want to continue to be part of her life now that he no longer can be.”