The killer was her estranged husband, Richard Spicknall II, against whom she had gotten a protection from abuse order only months earlier. He later pleaded guilty to shooting the children while they were strapped in their car seats during a road trip to Ocean City.

Since that time, the Pasadena woman, now 33, has spent nearly a decade as an advocate for domestic abuse victims, working to prevent similar tragedies from happening to other families.

She was honored for her efforts in a traveling photography exhibit held earlier this month.

The exhibit, titled ''A Line in the Sand,'' and sponsored by the House of Ruth Maryland, ran through the end of last month at the Gallery Imperato in Baltimore. It featured interpretive portraits of Ms. Spicknall and several dozen other Maryland residents who have fought against domestic violence.

"I do this for my children," Ms. Spicknall said of her own battle, which began in the months following the murders. "It helps to keep them here with me."

House of Ruth Maryland is a domestic violence center that helps battered women and children.

"Last year, the House of Ruth celebrated its 30th anniversary in the state, and we wanted to acknowledge the people who helped us get to where we are," said Kerri Wojciechowski, spokesman for the House of Ruth Maryland. "This exhibit is about people who stood up and said enough is enough."

Ms. Spicknall is the perfect example, she said.

"Even after what happened to her children, she didn't let that stop her," Ms. Wojciechowski said. "The strength she has shown is tremendous. We hope that for the people who see this exhibit, stories like these become as personal to them as they are to us, and they'll join us in drawing a line in the sand."

Baltimore photographer Connie Imboden took Ms. Spicknall's picture for the exhibit. Shot through a mirror, the black-and-white portrait shows Ms. Spicknall with her eyes closed, in a meditative pose.

"I felt a tremendous amount of responsibility here," Ms. Imboden said. "Lisa is remarkable. I thought she was remarkable before I met her, but while I was photographing her, she was so accessible, both emotionally and psychologically. That really struck me right away."

After Richard Spicknall shot his two children on the Choptank River Bridge near Cambridge, authorities learned that he never should have had a gun in the first place because of the protective order lodged against him.

He was able to buy the weapon anyway because the order, issued in 1998 by a Howard County judge, didn't show up in a criminal justice computer database due to a clerical error.

Ms. Spicknall began lobbying state lawmakers to crack down on such infractions immediately, telling a roomful of delegates in late 1999 that she would personally train "every clerk, every police officer, every judge" if she had to. In response, then-Del. David Boschert sponsored legislation in early 2000 that gave additional funds for local law enforcement agencies to establish special domestic violence units.

Since then, Ms. Spicknall has worked as an advocate for the Stephanie Roper Foundation, a Maryland-based advocacy group that fights for crime victims' rights. She has also worked as an advocate in the Prince George's County Sheriff's Office, helping victims through the court process.

"Domestic violence happens in all walks of life," said Ms. Spicknall, who now works as a grant writer for Mothers Against Drunk Driving.

It's a problem that's only getting worse in Maryland, said Judge Katie Curran O'Malley, wife of Gov. Martin O'Malley, in opening remarks at a reception June 5.

She and her father, former Attorney General J. Joseph Curran Jr., were both photographed for the exhibit, and her sister, Mary Carole Curran, was one of the photographers.

"As a judge, I hear about these cases two ways," said Judge O'Malley, who started working with the House of Ruth as a hotline volunteer, and served as the exhibit's honorary chairman. "I hear them as civil protection orders, and then I hear them as second-degree assault cases."

In 2006, domestic violence killed 23 women and 11 children in Maryland, she said.

Ms. Spicknall is now married with two young sons, though she declined to talk about them publicly.

She's proudest, she said, of being able to get up every day and "fight this fight" - not only for herself and her children, but for all the victims of domestic violence who are suffering in silence.

Ms. Spicknall's advice to other abuse victims is simple: Don't be afraid to take that first step and make a call for help. There are people, like her, who will be there.

"I just want to be able to help as many people as I possibly can," Ms. Spicknall said.