Chapter 9
The trial started two months later.
The murder charge had changed everything.
The media was there in full force.
National news stations covered it.
*DAYCARE ABUSER ALSO KILLED HER OWN BROTHER.*
The gallery was standing room only every day.
The prosecution’s case was overwhelming.
They had the videos.
They had the medical records.
They had four former employees.
They had the embezzlement proof.
They had the letter to Ryan.
They had the murder video.
They had Lisa.
They had Noah.
And they had Melissa’s own words from the night she broke into our house.
The police had worn body cams.
You could hear every word she said.
Every threat.
Every confession.
Voss tried everything.
He claimed the murder video was fake.
He claimed the witnesses were lying.
He claimed the police had planted the knife in our house.
He even tried to claim Mark had tried to kill Melissa first, so she’d acted in self-defense.
No one believed him.
No one.
The defense didn’t call a single witness.
They didn’t put Melissa on the stand.
They didn’t have anything left.
The closing arguments took a whole day.
The DA stood in front of the jury.
“Melissa Carter is a monster,” he said. “For thirty years, she lied, stole, and manipulated everyone who loved her. She killed her own brother because he caught her stealing. She abused forty-seven innocent toddlers because she liked the power. She broke her own nephew’s bones because he cried for his mother. And when she was caught? She tried to frame her sister. She tried to accuse an innocent man of the worst crime imaginable. She broke into her sister’s house in the middle of the night to kill them all. There is no excuse for what she did. There is no explanation. There is only justice. And justice means she spends the rest of her life in a cage, where she can never hurt anyone again.”
Voss gave his closing.
He talked about a troubled childhood.
About being the middle child.
About never being good enough.
He begged the jury for mercy.
“Melissa Carter is a human being,” he said. “She is sick. She needs help. Not a death sentence by prison. Give her a chance to get better. Give her a chance to redeem herself.”
The jury deliberated for six hours.
We sat in the waiting room.
Noah was with my parents, playing in the park down the street.
Ryan held my hand.
My parents sat across from us, quiet.
Claire sat next to me, going over her notes.
Finally, the bailiff came in.
“They have a verdict.”
We walked back into the courtroom.
Melissa was led in in chains.
She didn’t look at us.
She stared straight ahead.
The judge looked at the jury.
“Have you reached a verdict?”
The foreman stood up.
“We have, Your Honor.”
He handed the bailiff a piece of paper.
The bailiff handed it to the judge.
The judge read it.
Then he handed it back.
“Please read the verdict.”
The foreman looked at Melissa.
“On the charge of first-degree murder of Mark Carter: Guilty.”
A murmur went through the gallery.
“On the charge of aggravated assault of a minor, Noah Carter: Guilty.”
My mom squeezed my hand.
“On the twenty-three counts of child endangerment: Guilty on all counts.”
“On the charge of embezzlement: Guilty.”
“On the charge of attempted murder of Sarah and Ryan Carter: Guilty.”
The foreman sat down.
The judge looked at Melissa.
“Does the defendant have anything to say before sentencing?”
Melissa stood up.
She looked around the room.
At the parents of the daycare kids.
At my parents.
At Ryan.
At me.
She smiled.
“I don’t regret anything,” she said. “Mark was a thief. The brats were brats. And Sarah always got everything. I hope she spends the rest of her life looking over her shoulder. I hope she never sleeps again. I hope—”
The judge banged his gavel so hard the sound echoed.
“That’s enough. Melissa Carter, for the murder of your brother, for the abuse of twenty-four children, for the embezzlement of two hundred thousand dollars, and for the attempted murder of your sister and her husband, I hereby sentence you to five consecutive life sentences plus one hundred and twenty years, without the possibility of parole. Take her away.”
The bailiffs grabbed her.
She screamed and fought all the way out.
The door slammed behind her.
And then it was quiet.
Claire turned to me, smiling.
“It’s over,” she said. “She’s never getting out. Ever.”
I looked at Ryan.
He was crying.
I was crying too.
My mom and dad were holding each other, sobbing.
The parents from the daycare came over.
One by one, they hugged us.
“Thank you,” they said. “Thank you for making sure she can’t hurt anyone else.”
We walked out of the courthouse together.
The sun was shining.
Reporters shouted questions at us.
We didn’t answer.
We just kept walking.
Noah was waiting for us at the bottom of the steps.
He ran over and threw his arms around my legs.
“Mommy! Daddy! Grandma said the bad lady is gone forever!”
I picked him up.
I kissed his forehead.
“That’s right, baby. She’s gone. No one is ever going to hurt you again.”
He smiled.
A big, bright, real smile.
The first one I’d seen in almost a year.
We walked to the car as a family.
For the first time in a long time, I breathed deep.
The air felt clean.
The future felt possible.
It wouldn’t be easy.
Noah would need therapy for years.
My dad would never get his daycare back.
We’d never get Mark back.
But we had each other.
May you like
We had the truth.
And we had peace.
