Ashley Swift

Maybe it was just my dad who sat me down and told me that they found my mom. But I remember my dad being kind of very calm. He explained it in a way of mom's not coming back home and this is the new reality. And I think that he was trying to say it in the best way possible, but there's not really a best way possible to say that.

I thought maybe somebody saw her walking and grabbed her or things like that. But the more I thought about it, I thought there had to be a little bit more to it.

I didn't notice anything different, you know. We all went about our business.

They told me that my dad was got arrested. And in that moment, I was like, for what?

This trial was huge.

When I first moved to Tennessee, I really liked it. I enjoyed it. It was very peaceful, and getting to know all my new friends and, you know, meet new people was fun.

My relationship with my dad during this time period was very good. He made sure that we still had as normal as a childhood as we could, even into our teenage years, you know.

Growing up, my mom was very involved. She loved taking us to sports, dance, cheer. She just had that very caring and nurturing personality.

They told me that my dad got arrested and in that moment I was like, for what?

I remember getting that first phone call from him after he was in the jail, and I remember his first words weren't, you know, they weren't about him, they were about us, and that everything was going to be okay.

I remember I was staying at a friend's house, and my mom was going to a Halloween party with some of her friends, and my dad was going to stay home with my sister.

Ashley Swift. I was nervous to go on the stand, and they decided to call me early. And so in that moment, I did freak out a little bit, just because I hadn't mentally prepared myself.

Okay.

She did.

We went home, back to our house where my sister and my dad were.

Yeah, we came into the house and we went to sleep in her bedroom. I didn't really prepare for trial. Whatever was asked was what was asked, and however I answered was however I answered. And I told the truth in everything that I said.

Oh, I know it was my mother.

It's instinct to know your mother versus somebody else. You have that bond with that person and you know who it is.

No, but I felt her. There were some times during my testimony where they were trying to, I think, trick me into thinking that what I felt and knew was something else, and I made sure to own that. It was my testimony.

I mean, I have a pretty good instinct and feel what my mother feels like.

When we were starting to go to bed, I decided that I wanted to go home. I called my mom and asked her to come get me.

As it was going to the jury, we all kind of sat around and hugged. A bunch of family friends showed up, and we were sitting there trying to figure out, oh, what if the jury's saying this? What if they're saying that? But we really didn't know what was going on in that jury room.

Moving forward, I'm not exactly 100% sure what's going to happen. I hope that we can get my dad home soon. He is currently sitting in jail for something that, you know, he shouldn't even be in jail for.

I think one of the things I want people to know most about my mom is she's a very caring and nurturing person and she would do anything for any of us kids or my dad. I would love to have my dad around again and, you know, really fight for justice for my mom.

We moved ultimately from my dad's job to Tennessee. It was just a better opportunity. I enjoyed it. It was very peaceful. I do think she was happy. I think that she wasn't necessarily fully herself in Tennessee.

My mom was going out more, which made me start to question why.

I was used to her tucking me into bed every night or being home every night, getting up with her and going to the gym. And that kind of slowly stopped the longer that we lived in Tennessee.

No, I just, um,

I would say my dad's reaction was, he was obviously very worried, but you have to think I was nine and my sister was five, so I think he was trying to put on a very brave face for us.

Eventually, yes. I remember nights of me begging and crying her not to leave. I didn't want her to go out. And just wanting her to stay home with us.

She would. And I was not like her at all.

I felt very confused. I thought, you know, my mom will just come home later. But the reality started setting in of, okay, nobody's heard from her. And that's when I began to worry.

I don't remember the exact day of hearing about it. And I don't think that's how it was described to me. I think it was that mom wasn't going to be here anymore, and that mom wasn't coming back home. And that's when it really set in that that was my new life.

It's pretty hard because, you know, at that age, you're about to hit double digits. Everybody's excited to turn 10. And, you know, you're about to be the big kids in the school again before you go off to middle school. And I knew that I wanted her there for all of that.

You know, my dad just tried to always stay strong for us.

I think the older I got, the more that I wanted to know what happened. And then I got to an age where I realized that I would never know what happened.

Obviously, she wasn't my mom, but I wanted my dad to be happy.

He was very involved. I mean, he was very, very supportive and very encouraging.

Yes.

I was at a friend's house, and I wanted to come home.

Yes.

It does.

She did come pick me up and we went home.

When I woke up that morning, it was a slow morning.

I do think she has a lot of information about

I did talk to her a little bit and over the years I've cut that back significantly. I think that this is kind of her 15 minutes of fame.

I don't want to sit here and accuse anyone of anything. I wasn't there to see that. That's my brother's story to tell. But I do think that he is weirdly obsessed and involved.

I don't think I fully understood right then. So my first thought was, oh, you know, she called somebody else to help her or, you know, a number of things. That wasn't my first thought.

That's when it really set in. Mom wasn't going to be here anymore. And that mom wasn't coming back home.

There were times where I begged him to leave her because of the way that she made comments about things, and he wanted to try to always mend that relationship.

They came to see him and asked for his fingerprints. He wasn't home at the time. I think he met them at City Hall, I think, and willingly gave his fingerprints and did what he needed to do. And whatever they needed, he was very cooperative.

Mm-hmm. That was that.

I was at work, and I remember somebody coming to get me and saying that my stepmom was on the phone. Didn't know why she was calling, because at this point...

I picked it up, and she let me know that he had been arrested. I knew that my sister was not home alone, so I got in the car and went straight home. I was very distraught trying to figure out what we were going to do.

I do not know.

I don't.

I'm having to testify for my dad's innocence about my dead mother.

I remember feeling very emotional. I'm having to testify for my dad's innocence about my dead mother.

I don't think so.

Yes, I have no daughter.

I'm 22. I'm sorry.

I was nine.

I was very close to her.

Yeah, we came into the house and we went to sleep in her bedroom. Me and her went to sleep in the bed.

Yes, I remember her moving me in the middle of the night to my sister's room.

I know it was her. It was just instinct to know what your mother feels like.

I would know it was her.

After all this time of not feeling her, touching her, smelling her, I would know it was her.

It was.

It was a very long couple days of waiting.

We're all sitting there trying to speculate what they're thinking, but we don't know what they're thinking in there.

It was a very long couple days of waiting.

My dad still wasn't coming home.

I think he tries to stay positive as much as he can, but obviously he feels like he's missing out on a lot. I just finished school and my sister graduated high school and started college, and I think that's hard for him.

Yes.

This has been over a decade going on, and obviously I want justice for my mom, and I want my dad home, but I want to live a normal life.

I think my dad was trying to just give us a sense of normalcy. Halloween is my least favorite holiday now.

She was a wonderful mother. My mom was that mom that went to every single game, every cheer thing, every dance competition.

Yes, she did. She loved being a mom. I miss her. She's just, um... She deserves to be here.

I remember feeling very emotional. I'm having to testify. I'm sorry.

It was very heartbreaking. It's just not fair that she's not here.

Me and my sister both were equally attached to her hip, but I was their first girl and that was all they wanted.