The Case Against Brooke Skylar Richardson | Full Episode

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investigators were tipped off about the

possible remains buried in the back of

this house here behind me

brook skylar richardson had a promising

future the prosecutor says she gave

birth in the family home and then killed

her baby the 18 year old is there

a way to describe this past year the

worst nightmare

purgatory

every day

the carlisle teen is charged with

killing her newborn baby i can tell you

that brooke skylar richardson

did not kill her baby

i don't know when it hit me but it was

i was a grandmother and i never had any

of the benefits of it

our lives have been completely turned

upside down

what was the reaction to this story how

big did this become i felt like

super bowl level

it was like

the world stopped

everyone wanted to know what was going

on in our backyard

and what had happened

the sidewalk was lined with people

sitting in lawn chairs oh you're serious

right out here

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we have no privacy

we're followed stopped

facebook to me turned into hate book

i did not know she was pregnant

here's her track photo this was track

season in april

and you can't tell

i mean we missed everything we missed

everything

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we thought we were doing the right thing

by cooperating how did you gonna try and

kill my baby it turned out to be

the

absolute wrong thing she faces charges

of aggravated murder involuntary

manslaughter endangering children are

you scared i'm very scared i mean we're

we're scared to death talking to you

because we don't want things to come

across

wrong

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this is the case of the state of ohio

versus brook skylar richardson

the defendant brooke richardson

murdered a baby that she didn't want and

never intended to keep

this case

is about a rush to judgment

chad is stillborn and she made a poor

choice after that

not telling you not telling anyone and

burying the baby

what has been advised that we have a

verdict

are we ready for the jury yes sir the

defendant please rise

what's your biggest fear at this point

guilty conviction

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um

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this is the case of the state of ohio

versus brook schuyler richardson case

number 2007. nothing has polarized

ohio's warren county more than the trial

of brook skyler richardson

do you feel that schuyler's ever gotten

the presumption of innocence no

absolutely not

now 20 years old brooke known as skylar

is accused of killing her newborn

daughter

if convicted she could spend the rest of

her life in prison

it's just changed our lives forever

for more than a year skyler's parents

kim and scott richardson gave us unique

access to their story but on the advice

of their lawyers skyler couldn't talk to

us it's so hard to be

living

like this

thinking

but what if

a lot of what-ifs a lot of what-ifs

in

2017 the richardsons were living the

good life in carlisle ohio population 5

000.

it's mayberry small town usa i mean it's

so small town

most people don't leave

their kids excelled in school and sports

son jackson plays on the football team

skyler was a cheerleader

but behind the smiling photographs the

family was struggling with a serious

issue

skyler's eating disorder

how much do you think her weight and

eating

ruled her life

oh 95 percent

that is her life this is her at a very

scary point oh my gosh

kim says she first noticed a problem

when her cheerleader daughter was in the

sixth grade

12 years old she wouldn't buy gum

because it had

five calories i didn't even know gum had

calories

she was so tiny she was a perfect flyer

you do a stunt in the air or

you hold a very difficult stretching

pose for you know a few seconds

and then come back down to the ground

but it also meant she had to be easy to

lift and catch

kim says it was the beginning of

skyler's battle with her weight

how would she lose the weight

she would throw up and when cheerleading

was over for the season

skylar would binge then starve again

did you get afraid to even talk about

her absolutely she she definitely

would shut down if you mentioned it to

her the richardson say they tried

everything doctors therapists

nutritionists

was diagnosed with body dysmorphia a

mental disorder involving an obsessive

focus on a perceived flaw in appearance

nothing helped

she's very

guarded keep a lot of secrets yes

so many

and we don't know what they are

and i don't know that we ever will

in late july 2016 the summer before her

senior year

skylar began dating a friend's cousin

the relationship ended quickly and by

january 2017

skyler had a new boyfriend a high school

junior named brandon

why did those two click

what is it i don't know cause she's this

tall and he's that tall

skyler was happy she even seemed to be

putting on some weight

kim and scott hoped their daughter's

eating disorder was finally under

control

we were actually pleased that she was

finally

gaining some weight she looked healthy

a month later she eagerly picked out her

prom dress and it was a tight-fitting

dress that she needed to be laced up in

and then in late march skylar went on

vacation with her family

she wore a two-piece

i told her she looked great i mean for

the first time in my life i thought

she's healthy she's in a healthy

relationship

she really cares about brandon i could

tell that she did

kim knew skyler's relationship with

brandon was heating up

that's why i wanted her to be on the

pill

so in late april skyler went to her

mother's gynecologist to get a

prescription for birth control she had

just turned 18

so kim waited outside

she came out she had clearly been crying

did you ask her why she was crying it

was traumatic she goes your first

appointment is and i'm like yeah it is

as a female

the real reason for the tears the doctor

had told skyler she was pregnant eight

months she asked him not to tell anyone

she never said anything to either one of

you about what the doctor told her no

nine days later on may 5th skyler and

brandon went to the prom despite being

late into her pregnancy she fit into her

gown

she's wearing the same dress that she

had tried on in february purchased

february 15th

i have side by side put the pictures

together and i look at the pictures and

i'm like

they're almost identical they're

identical

but less than 48 hours later in the

early morning hours of may 7th

something happened that turned the

richardson's life upside down

it remained skyler's secret for more

than two months

when police suddenly showed up at the

richardson's home

and they said hey we just need to talk

to your daughter about something she may

have witnessed

she's not in any trouble we just need to

talk to her

taking them at their word scott drove

his daughter to the police station

i mean honestly i can look back that's

the biggest mistake i've made in my

entire life

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on july 14 2017

when scott richardson drove his daughter

skyler to the carlisle police station

he had no idea that she had been keeping

a secret

if she's going in to talk to the police

do you know what it's about no i have no

idea

lieutenant john fain who at the time was

with the warren county sheriff's office

wanted to question 18 year old skylar

about a call they'd received there's an

allegation from an ob gyn office that a

patient there had delivered a baby at

home subsequently buried her in her

backyard

skyler was put in an interrogation room

her father wasn't allowed in with her

you have the right to remain silent as

fain read skylar her rights

and then began pressing her a camera was

recording everything we got a call from

the doctor's office

okay and according to them on april 26

you found out you were pregnant remember

that was the same day skyla went to see

the gynecologist about getting birth

control pills more than two months later

she returned you went back to that

doctor's office

and i told her what had happened

that i had to have a baby and it wasn't

alive

i didn't kill

skylar told investigators that in the

early morning hours of may 7

2017

she gave birth to a stillborn baby in

her bathroom

she just kind of came out my train i

tried

i tried over and she's reading she

didn't have a heartbeat

so now what do you do when you realize

that she's not gonna make it i have to

bury her

i couldn't tell anybody without waking

anyone

skyler said she silently walked

downstairs got a small garden trowel

and then dug a shallow grave in her

backyard

i did not try and kill my baby

after about 45 minutes of questioning

lieutenant vayne told skyler's anxious

parents the real reason he brought in

their daughter

shock

i couldn't feel my body

i could not get up

how could that happen i've seen her

every day i look at her i talked to her

i hug her

thane then gave the richardson some time

alone with their daughter

never mentioning that the camera was

rolling

and capturing this deeply personal

moment

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skylar told her parents that she named

her baby annabelle

and that the baby's father was that

friend's cousin she dated very briefly

before brandon

i can't imagine

the pain it breaks my heart to think

about her laying in bed being scared not

being able to come down and tell me what

had just happened

with the richardson still at the police

station coming to terms with their new

reality

investigators descended on their home in

search of human remains

soon skyler's once closely held secret

investigators were tipped off about

was shared with everyone in town

buried in the back of this house after

more than five hours skylar and her

parents were allowed to go home

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but six days later lieutenant fang

called asking skylar to come in again i

was told she's not in any trouble it's

not a life-changing situation this time

fame was accompanied by detective brandi

carter

and they had new damaging information

from the coroner's office

we know there's some more that happened

than what you shared the other day

okay

dr elizabeth murray a forensic

anthropologist who analyzed the remains

reported there was evidence that the

baby's bones may have been burned so she

was under the belief that the baby had

been set on fire what was your reaction

when you heard that i was surprised

fame began to think skylar must be lying

about everything and was determined to

get her to admit to killing the baby and

then burning the remains in order to

hide the evidence there's some evidence

to show that there was some

some burning on her

a total of 17 times any reason for any

of that no in your head you're thinking

this young woman is lying to me yes

because

they had told us certainly with

scientific certainty there was the fire

maybe it just was one of those things

where you just thought like a cremation

like i'm gonna i'm gonna have some

actions that i can keep of my daughter

suddenly skyler changed her story tell

me everything that you were thinking and

everything you did

it didn't stop there did you hear

anything like little gurgle sounds

skyler also made the startling admission

that the baby might have been born alive

how did you know at first you know that

she was probably alive just a little bit

well i said she might have a noise

maybe a little noise a girl

when she said that she might have heard

a gurgle the gurgle came from you guys

first right that word yes i said that

word first at the end of that hour-long

interrogation detectives had enough to

arrest the 18 year old on a charge of

reckless homicide their theory was that

she had suffocated the baby

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a distraught skyler told her parents

what she told police

brooke richardson is in the warren

county jail tonight

skylar made bail

just two weeks later the case was

presented to a grand jury

who indicted her on a new devastating

set of charges

skylar was arrested again

warren county prosecutor david fornshell

count one of that indictment is for

aggravated murder aggravated murder a

charge that carries a mandatory life

sentence in ohio

the other charges involuntary

manslaughter endangering children and

abuse of a corpse

fornshell left no doubt that he had the

evidence

the general allegations against her are

that she did give birth to a newborn

infant she caused the death of that

infant burned the infant

and buried the infant

the motive says fornshell a baby

wouldn't fit into skyler's life

skyler and her family were

pretty obsessed with external

appearances you're describing a spoiled

self-entitled teenager who was more

worried about vanity than keeping the

life of a baby alive

those are your words

there's no way

she way

i would stake my life on it

despite skyler's incriminating

statements kim and scott say they intend

to prove skyler is innocent

with the help of these two

attorneys the prosecutor was trying to

say that skylar richardson

was a cold-blooded killer

and it's quite a leap once all the

evidence is

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skyler richardson in handcuffs entered a

plea of not guilty during her

arraignment on five charges including

aggravated murder

skylar spent the weekend in jail until

her family could come up with a 50

thousand dollar bond it was a surreal

experience for her parents

it was her physically but when you

looked at her just

she was had checked out

skyler emerged into a tabloid firestorm

shortly after that

following the prosecutor's sensational

press conference the court imposed a gag

order but the damage had already been

done

we know a lot more tonight about the

carlyle teen mom now accused of the

horrific crime of killing her newborn

and then burning the baby's body

on social media skyler and her family

were vilified

in some ways is this like kind of the

modern

salem witch trials yes very

every move we make everything we do

we're judged we're followed stalked

we

were crucified and that's putting it

mildly

outside the warren county courthouse

today protesters stood with signs

calling for justice for baby carlisle

justice for your baby

what are your baby's voice

they would take turns sitting out in

front of our house and they would set up

a schedule

to watch our comings and goings i would

see pictures of myself out on my back

deck

there were threats

and a constant drum beat of vitriol

it became difficult for the family to

even leave the house

people would claim to know us they would

take any picture that they could find of

skyler and they would paste pictures of

baby's faces in it

and they found a picture of her with a

shovel and they posted some little

baby's face in it

prominent local defense attorneys

charlie m rickers and his father charlie

h say this is a case of a false

confession i can tell you

that brook skylar richardson did not

kill her baby and then as both sides

prepared for trial dr elizabeth murray

the forensic anthropologist who reported

the remains were burned retracted her

initial assessment after taking another

look at the bones she now said they

showed no sign whatsoever of

incineration or burning

and now every doctor in the case

including the state's own doctor

uh agree that that was a false opinion

and yet nothing changed in the

prosecutor's approach

because in the interrogation skylar

admitted that she tried to cremate the

remains

fornshell refuses to back down or

correct the record

part of the reason why i think the

indictment was so severe is because the

first anthropologist in this case came

to an opinion that she has now retracted

but has that affected the way people see

this case

absolutely the jury pool's been tainted

and now this poor girl

our client skyler who was 18 years old

at the time is facing life in prison

skyler was fitted with an ankle bracelet

and placed under house arrest she spent

much of her time reading books and

hanging out with her dogs

in the backyard under a pine tree her

parents placed an angel ornament to mark

the spot where skylar once buried the

baby she called annabelle

she did what she thought she needed to

do maybe outside looking in that was

wrong but in her mind she just delivered

a stillborn baby

she gently laid the baby down in the

ground

she didn't have a casket

she buried the baby and laid a flower

over top of it she put a vase as a

marker you can see it from her window

as 12 months passed skyler's plans to

attend the university of cincinnati were

put on hold she can't get a job she

can't go to school

the defense filed a motion to move the

trial to a different county but the

request was denied

they've not listened to anything that

charlie and the team have put together

and taking them into consideration it's

just all

very cold and hard

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then in july 2019 the state approached

schuyler's lawyers with an unexpected

offer

the prosecutor

told charlie i will take aggravated

murder off if you plea to the rest of

them

which still could have been 15 years

faced with the possibility of life

without parole the richardsons knew they

had a terrible dilemma

but in the end the decision was skyler's

to make it was a sunday morning and she

woke up and i can still see her sitting

on the couch and she goes

i'm not going to play to something that

i didn't do

and in my

heart i got sick but i it has to be her

decision end of day she has to live with

this

that's gotta be though

weighing on both of you the idea that

whether she goes to prison for the rest

of her life is in your hands

it's quite a burden

there's no way that she would harm her

baby no way

on september 3rd 2019

despite concerns of a tainted jury pool

a 12-person jury is seated after a

single day of war dear

assistant prosecuting attorney stephen

knippen delivered his opening statement

with a jaw-dropping quote from a text

that skylar richardson sent to her mom

i'm literally speechless with how happy

i am

my belly is back omg

and i'm never

ever

ever

ever letting it get like this again

those are the words that brooke

richardson texted to her mother

just hours after she murdered her infant

daughter in the middle of the night

and buried her lifeless body in the dirt

behind their

home with the possibility that skyler's

own words will be our undoing

her family wondered if they made a

tragic mistake by not accepting the deal

they were offered

but does that scare the two of you

absolutely

she did ask me am i doing the right

thing

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so

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for more than two years skylar

richardson and her family have been

bracing for her trial

i wake up in the morning

thank god each day it's another day i at

least get to see her and touch her

the stress and uncertainty have taken a

toll

schuyler still battling an eating

disorder is virtually wasting away

how's skyler

not good

she's about 90 pounds she wears kids

clothes

she has no clothes for court everything

we have to pin everything on her kind of

like sewer in her clothes

but what doctors say is an illness the

state characterizes as vanity

prosecutor stephen kinnipping quotes

from a tech schuyler center mom just

hours after giving birth

you're about to see me looking freaking

better than before

omg

and there's this selfie that skyler took

at the gym that same afternoon her

actions and her statements demonstrate

that she had no intention

of having this baby

prosecutors admit they cannot prove the

baby was born alive but knipin tells the

jury that skylar herself admitted it

during this interview brooke admitted

the following she saw her daughter's

arms moving a little

heard her gurgle and heard her cry

she also told investigators that she

might have held her baby quote too tight

and that's not all

she attempted to burn the baby after her

death

in an effort to cremate her

but defense attorney charlie m ricker

says skylar just told the police what

they wanted to hear

we know

that the police were able to break her

down and make her vulnerable and admit

to something that is scientifically

impossible

burning of a baby

this doctor many weeks later said i was

wrong

they disregarded any truth and they said

well skyler said it

we'll just keep going

we'll just keep moving forward

the state calls dr susan brown the

assistant warren county coroner who

performed the autopsy on the baby's

remains

do you have an opinion as to the cause

of baby richardson's death

yes

homicidal violence of undetermined

etiology

but when cross-examined by the defense

dr brown concedes there's no physical

evidence that skyler killed her baby or

that the baby was even born alive

you cannot tell us to any reasonable

degree of scientific certainty that

annabelle was born alive is that correct

based on just the autopsy examination

alone

i cannot determine whether it was a live

birth in fact under cross-examination

witness after witness called by the

state concede there is no physical

evidence of a live birth or any trauma

or burning of the baby's bones the only

evidence comes from skylar

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so if skyler is convicted she could be

convicted on what she said rather than

what she did

exactly

did you hear her cry

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but why would skylar kill her own child

prosecutors say she never wanted the

baby and they point to text messages she

sent her mother in the days leading up

to prom as skyler's biggest concern

seemed to be fitting into her dress

skyler i'm just in freak out mode i want

to look amazing again more than anything

i hate being like this so much and there

are those texts skyler sent after giving

birth i am literally

so excited now just for dinner to wear

something cute yay

my belly is back

but when the defense begins its case

obstetrician dr john white takes the

stand and tells the jury he believes the

baby was not alive at birth

she delivered a stillbirth infant

in the bathroom

skyler told investigators that she never

cut an umbilical cord suggesting to dr

white that the cord may have become

detached sometime before or during birth

he also says skyler's description of the

baby's appearance is significant she

described annabelle's appearance as

being really white

and in my experience when you deliver a

healthy newborn they're almost

purple dr white points out that skylar

only gained 15 pounds during the course

of her pregnancy here she is at three

months and again at seven and a half

months and then again in may less than

two days before giving birth

according to dr white

skyler's eating disorder may have

restricted the baby's development in the

womb

fetal growth restriction increases the

risks

of intrauterine demise or neonatal death

later an expert on police interviews

explains to the jury how certain police

tactics can result in false confessions

and certain people are more susceptible

says clinical psychologist dr stuart

bassman who spent hours interviewing

skyler it is my opinion

that skylar richardson suffers from a

mental disorder that predisposes her

to comply to people in authority

what stands out to me

about what transpired in the

interrogation

was a clear sense

of intimidating attempting to convince

skyler

to

implant a memory that would incriminate

her

but lieutenant john fein says that's not

what happened

i don't feel that there was something so

powerful or this strong coercion that

people are alluding to that's going to

get someone to admit to do

yeah but changed it didn't happen you're

two authority figures she's in a closed

room she doesn't have an attorney she

doesn't have her parents how do you know

the baby was alive just a little bit the

annabelle was alive a little bit i saw

her maybe a little bit

moving

you don't think it's possible that she

might have just said that because it

would please you you don't think that i

don't think any answers that she gave in

that interrogation any answer was with

the goal of pleasing us no i do not

think that

a week after the trial started without

schuyler ever taking the stand the

prosecution and the defense make their

final appeals to the jury

assistant prosecutor julie kraft

unwanted

that's what brooke richardson's daughter

was unwanted

to outside observers brooke richardson

had the perfect life

she grew up in a small town

she was a cheerleader for the high

school football team

she obsessed over her appearance

and she was determined to maintain that

perfect life at all costs

first instruction you and we've heard a

lot about it is burden of proof the

defendant is presumed innocent

until guilt is established beyond a

reasonable doubt

and it's their burden

it's the prosecutor's burden

if you have a reason to doubt the live

birth

you have to fight for scotland

after all the turmoil and high-stakes

drama the case is now in the hands of

jurors

four hours later they reach a verdict

are we ready for the jury yes the

defendant please rise

with regard to count one we the jury in

the above caption case find the

defendant

on september 12 2019 skyler waits for

the jury of seven women and five men to

decide her future

it's completely out of your control at

that point

we just did no

and that's the scariest thing

would the jury believe skylar confessed

to a murder

or would they think she had been pushed

into making false statements

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what's the biggest fear right now that

we can't prove that she's innocent too

i mean that's the hardest thing

no one expects a quick verdict but then

just four hours later

kim and scott richardson returned to

judge oda's pack courtroom with their

daughter skylar i almost had to

hold her up to walk back because she was

a nervous wreck

i wasn't even sure what to say i mean

it's hard to say honey is going to be

okay when you don't know

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all right ma'am has the jury reached a

verdict in the case

we have

i can see

the juror with the envelope and i'm like

thinking that's my daughter's life and

i mean i am just

praying

not guilty not guilty not guilty

we the jury in the above caption case

find the defendant brook skyler

richardson not guilty of the of

aggravated murder

not guilty of aggravated murder

not guilty of involuntary manslaughter

not guilty of child endangerment

skyler so stoic at trial

is overwhelmed

i just wanted to fall to my knees

she did the right thing by not taking

the plea i just wanted to be like

you were right we felt free

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but because skyler buried annabelle in

the backyard

she is convicted of gross abuse of a

corpse

that felony carries up to a year in

prison

the judge orders skylar held in jail

until sentencing

her parents watch in shock

as skyler is led away in handcuffs

following the verdict district attorney

david fornshell denied that he pursued a

case with insufficient evidence brooke

richardson created the situation that

prevented us from being able to conduct

an autopsy on that baby girl

and in a sense it feels like that that

she's been rewarded

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do you think you are owed an apology by

the d.a honestly i don't care if i ever

see him again in my life

it's pretty clear at this point they

didn't make the right decision

and they it was almost like they were

incapable of admitting they made a

mistake

do you think the jurors

by this verdict were obviously able to

discount what skyler said in both

interrogations

we

knew

that most people think well

i would never admit to something i

didn't do and i think our jury at least

got to

hear a little bit about false

confessions that helped them decide this

case

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one day after the verdict skyler is back

in court for sentencing

is there anything that you want to tell

me before i impose a sentence thank you

your honor and for the first time she

publicly speaks

and i just wanted to say how sorry i was

i

can sometimes be selfish but i would

like to think that i've become better in

the knowledge

that i've upset everyone and hurt so

many people with what i've done

and i'm forever sorry and i'm i'm so

sorry i

i'm really really sorry and i understand

and thank you

seemingly unmoved judge oda delivers a

stern message

i firmly believe ms richardson in fact i

know in my heart

that

if you would have made different

decisions in this case annabelle would

be here today

but i think that your choices

before birth

during birth and after

show a grotesque

disregard for life

skyler is sentenced to three years of

probation

a far cry from life in prison

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what does this now mean for the family

it's a relief that it's over

they now

know that they don't have to worry about

losing their daughter

now they can plan

for the future

before she will tell you i had nothing

to live for

nothing

she was too scared to look out for too

scared too scared to dream is she gonna

sneak you some ham and sister tell me

who you see now thank you

she's grown up a lot she's got

a resiliency some inner strength that

you know i mean

you always hope it's there

just gotta let it come out

she's a great kid and hopefully

she's gonna bounce back from this i

think she will

in september 2019 skyler entered into an

eating disorder treatment program

it's a lifelong illness she'll have this

all of her life

but

we can do this

but kim and scott richardson will also

have to grapple with the mistakes they

made and lives that will never be quite

the same

dude you come out here a lot

yeah i do to visit

the angel still marks the site where

annabelle once was

it's heartbreaking but this is all we

have

sometimes i just need to feel close to

her

and i always tell her that you know

she's loved

and she would have been loved and

she's always in our hearts

[Music]

[Music]

right now it seems as if everything is

unpredictable we're all stuck at home

and like you i'm feeling a bit helpless

right now

but i want you to know we are here for

you all working together you are not

alone that's right

because we're all in this and we're all

in this

together

[Music]