"Okay let’s start from the beginning, shall we. Explain everything that happened.” Alright, it all started when my mom had got pregnant with me at 15. My dad wanted to get married, so that they could care for me together but my mom’s parent were against it. They said that they weren’t to get married until she finished high school. When I was 3 years old that’s exactly what they did. We were a happy family, and I was the prized possession of it. But this all ended a couple of months after the wedding. They had just came back from their honeymoon (which we had to convince them to take), and were going back to their normal days. He was riding the highway on his way to work when an 18-wheeler rear ended hI'm, sending hI'm into a coma. Soon after he died of a heart attack, and my mom was sent into shock after hearing the news, so she spent about two weeks with her mom at her house, trying to build her strength back.

For two straight years my mom’s did nothing but go to church and pray. I mean I went to church so much I could beat the pastor preaching. My mom never went out clubbing, hung out with her friends, or dated. Well until she met this guy at church. They started talking an awful bit. I mean they were talking on the phone every second of every minute and every minute of every hour, I barely had any tI'me to talk to mom. They did this for a whole year and I never got to meet hI'm, until my 7th birthday party. When I first saw hI'm I loved hI'm. He had brought me about 35 gifts, I was like yeah. I remember my mom chuckling at hI'm and saying, "You’re too much." My mom loved to smile and laugh, I guess that’s where I got it from. But as the party went on and they were dancing and what not he asked……… “What’s the guy’s name?” oh yeah, his name was ugh Joe, Joe Whinston. Now as I was saying, he asked my mom out to dinner that night.my mom was so happy, I still remember her getting dressed dancing around the house in her pretty black dress, singing,” momma’s going on a date tonight” over and over again. She called me upstairs and I went running, skipping every seconded step. ”Danni sweetie, tell me how mommy looks” she says as I walk through the door. Joe finally came around 8o’clock. My mom threw on her shoes and walked me to the neighbor’s house.

Our neighbor was this elderly woman Mrs. Winters. Every tI'me I go over there I always play and watch TV, with her. But her son, TI'mothy winters was really weird. He was always looking and watching me as me and Mrs. Winters played. I really never noticed it then again I did, but what happened that night made sure that I did. After Mrs. Winters had fallen to sleep, I just watched T.V. and colored in my coloring book. I didn’t know if he was sleep or not but I knew I was thirsty. So, I got up and tipped toed to the kitchenn, trying to be as quiet as I can. Got me a cup out of the cabinet, and poured me some juice. But as I was turning around from putting the juice up, tI'mothy was there. He had this bizarre look on his face that made me even more scared. Hi was all I managed to say as I maneuvered from up under hI'm. I remember the look on his face as he watched me get some chips from the pantry. I went to grab my juice and his hand grabbed my arm. I screamed LET ME GO over and over again. Mrs. Winter’s nearly hopped to the kitchenn, “boy why you bothering that girl, all she doing is getting a little snack.” He looked back and forth between me and her and let me go while staring at me in a daze. I nearly ran up out of that kitchenn, I knew I was okay because Mrs. Winters was standing right behind me. I heard her cuss at hI'm and then say go to bed boy.

Eventually, she fell back to sleep and I was up by myself again. Every couple minutes I was looking around cause I kept hearing a door moving or something down the hallway. The tension feeling in the house was really starting to get to me then, cause I couldn’t even enjoy my favorite show (SpongeBob Squarepants of course). I kind of knew something was going to happen but I sure didn’t know when or what. So I just tried to go to sleep. Closing my eyes and squinting them sure didn’t work, so I tried counting sheep. Around the number 120, my eyes began to go dark. But then it came light again, and my mouth became covered along with my nose. I found myself gasping for air as I was being grabbed off the floor. I finally bit his hand, and he dropped me on the ground hurting my back in the process. I actually still have the bruise from that. Anyway I got up and ran towards the door. I yelled as I tried unlocking it. Finally opening it, TI'mothy grabbed my arm. Kick hI'm, kick hI'm was the first thing that came to my mind. And that’s exactly what I did I ran out the door. I ran to my house first, banging on the door to see if my mom was home. A couple lights turned on, but tI'mothy was already up and running at a good pace so I took off. I ran with hI'm behind me a couple miles, then he stopped and started walking back home. I decided to take a short cut through Sir Ray’s back yard to get home faster than he did. I took off after jumping that fence and banged on my door till my hands started bleeding. When the door finally opened, Joe was standing there naked as a jay bird. I shrieked at the site but he said,” come on in this house and go to bed girl, you look you den’ seen a ghost.” I ran up the steps and looked out my window. At first I didn’t see anything, but then I saw TI'mothy. He was walking pass my house. I guess he knew i was at home cause as he passed he looked up at my window and mouthed I’M GONNA GET YOU. JUST YOU WAIT AND SEE. I shut my blinds and flew to me bed, grabbing my pillow and hiding my face.

The next morning I woke to the smell of blueberry pancakes, eggs, and sausages. Trying to get up was harder than ever. A pain took over as I tried to rise. MOMMMMMMMMM! Was all I yelled as I lay there trying to relax myself. She raced in asking what happened. She watched me carefully as I snitched about everything he did to me and when I finished a mad look overwhelmed her face. She left my room and came back with some pain pills, and many question about me being okay. She called Joe asking hI'm what she should do about what happened. Next thing I knew my mom was going off at the mouth while racing out the room. “You never know what to do, do you? I don’t even know why in the *** I’m with you for. All you do is eat and sleep all day.” It went on like that for like an hour or so, and it was really starting to annoy me. But after 30 minutes my back was starting to feel a lot better, and I was able to move. So, I got up, took a shower, and got ready to go.

When I came down stairs they were still arguing but they just stopped, and looked at me. My mom looked at me and then looked at Joe. Then she began questioning about if he had touched me. I was really getting tired of the questioning so, i just asked her can I go outside. She looked at me in a nasty way and waved her hand. I got up and ran to the door before she could say anything else about what happened, but in the back of my mind I was wondering if he was out here waiting on me. Peering out the curtain, I didn’t see anything. But looking through the crack portion of the door I saw hI'm, starring at our house from his car in the driveway. I watched hI'm calmly unto I felt Joe bump into me. My bad he said backing away from me carefully. My mom yelled from the kitchenn asking why I was still here. I ran to my room slamming the door behind me. Peeking through the window shades I saw hI'm turn on his car. The engine purred with so much beautifulness, and he put the car in reverse. He began driving back towards the garage/shed in the back of the house. I had no idea what he was doing, but I know I never heard the engine cut off.

That night, I was woken to screams. Mrs. Winters was outside her garage, on her knees with her son’s dead body in her hands. TI'mothy was a 25 year old boy who had killed hI'mself, and the knowing that I had saw hI'm get ready to kill hI'mself terrified me. My mom tried her best to comfort Mrs. Winters but my mom’s patience can only last so long. I mean she was just hollering at the top of her lungs for no apparent reason so my mom shut her up. She took her right hand and said I’mma say this one more tI'me shut the **** up lady, and waited. Then POW, POW her hand went from left to right. She never made another peep that night. After the funnel people left, my mom made sure I was okay and tried to explain what I had saw out there. But, how do you tell a child death is something that is everywhere.

Okay so about two years prior to the incident, Joe and my mom becoming more serious. They had been arranging to get married but it really didn’t work out. My mom had got pregnant again, but we didn’t know who’s baby it was through. So, since we didn’t know if it was Joe’s, he aborted it. My mom grew weak after about two years from the beatings he gave her, also hI'm using her as a product to bring power to his business. “ What was Joe’s profession?” It was a drug business he ran and he used her to get more sales out. Eventually I was able to put an end to it, but not in tI'me for hI'm to ruin her.

One night after I had got out the shower and was getting ready for school the next day, my mom came home. It had been at least a month or so since I had seen my mom so it really surprised me. I nearly made her fall as my big butt jumped on her. She looked horrible when I brought her into the house. I mean she had on the same clothes she had on a month ago when she had left me, saying I’ll miss you baby, and as I watched her lI'mp up the step I starting feeling sorry for her. It was hard for me to look at my mom as a bad person, because I knew it wasn’t her fault she left. Then again she had the option of trying to run from the pain she was being put in. Anyways, later on that night me and my mom had a catch-up section, where we would sat down, did each other’s nails, and watched a movie. [Soft Break]But all that was interrupted when someone came and knocked on our door.

I figured it was Mrs. Winters coming over to spend the night again cause’ she was scared to be by herself again., but when I opened the door it wasn’t her. It was hI'm, the last person in the world I wanted to see. He looked like he had been beaten or jumped by a gang of people right before he came. His eyes were blood red and his arm was cut down the middle. “Where you’re momma at luh girl?” he said, and I looked at hI'm in confusion. He didn’t like that so much. So he grabbed my hair and jerked me towards the couch, and ran towards my mom. She dodged his hit and helped me off the floor, she said run for the kitchenn as fast as you can, and I’ll meet you there in a minute. Without hesitation I ran, but only ended up running right into a wall. That’s when Joe helped me to the kitchenn by my hair. I screamed, while twisting and turning in his hold. I heard my mom yell at hI'm to leave me along but he just wouldn’t budge. When he finally let my hair go, my mom grabbed me I'mmediately. Then she stood up and charged toward hI'm with all her might. She and hI'm began to fight and looked like my mom was winning but then he cut her. Across the stomach the knife went, and my mom fell to her knees coughing blood as she went down. He managed shakily to stand up above her. He stabbed her once more, and then yet again, piercing my heart as he went. Fighting the pain I ran knife first right into hI'm, knocking hI'm down with her. You, you, you was his last words before I took a butcher knife and stabbed hI'm repeatedly. I watched hI'm as he lay there dead and pity hI'm. Then, I look at my mom and ask myself, why? Why was she given a life to only have it wasted away? “ Okay, Ms. Danielle N’cole Whittington, you are under arrest for the killing of Mr. Joe Whinton. Everything you have said will and can be used against you in the court of law.”