Justice For Hailey: Call With Cobb County District Attorney Update

Summary

Podcast Summary: "Justice For Hailey: Call With Cobb County District Attorney Update"

Podcast Information

• Title: Real Life Real Crime
• Host: Woody Overton
• Episode: Justice For Hailey: Call With Cobb County District Attorney Update
• Release Date: May 10, 2025

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Introduction

In this compelling episode of Real Life Real Crime, host Woody Overton delves into the ongoing pursuit of justice for Hailey, a central figure in a gripping true crime case. The episode focuses on a significant development: a pivotal phone call between Hailey’s family and the new Cobb County District Attorney (DA).

Overview of the District Attorney's Call

Woody begins by addressing the recent interaction between Hailey’s family—Barbara, Stella, and Tyler—and the newly appointed Cobb County DA. This call, lasting over an hour and a half, marks a hopeful turning point in the case.

Woody Overton [00:36]: "Today strictly #JusticeForHailey. And as you know, the family, Ms. Barbara, Stella, and Tyler had the phone call with the new district attorney today. It was well over an hour and a half. There was a whole lot that was said and discussed. And I think it's a very, very positive thing."

District Attorney's Initial Stance and Change

At the outset, the new DA had limited knowledge about Hailey’s case, relying solely on information provided by a former prosecutor involved in the investigation. Initially hesitant to engage deeply, the DA expressed frustration over the case being a topic of extensive public discussion on social media platforms like Facebook.

Woody Overton [01:48]: "She wanted a fresh angle from Ms. Barbara and an angle on what was going on. And I'm not going to disclose anything today because I want to take this weekend off."

Despite her initial reservations, the DA showed openness to revisit Hailey's case, signaling a potential shift towards re-examining the evidence and pursuing any overlooked leads.

Family's Perspective and Continued Efforts

Woody underscores the unwavering support of Hailey’s family, emphasizing their dedication to seeking justice. He hints at revealing more details in the upcoming episodes, promising an in-depth exploration of the DA's response and the subsequent actions required from the community of "lifers"—the podcast’s loyal listeners.

Woody Overton [02:00]: "Next week we're going to push out an episode on Friday, #JusticeForHailey. We're going to explain everything and then we're going to do another call to action."

He urges listeners to maintain a positive stance towards the new DA, cautioning against premature judgments while expressing confidence in her commitment to upholding her word.

Woody Overton [03:56]: "It's too early to let that cat out of the bag and it's too early... I believe I'm going to tell you this. The new district attorney was 30 years in law enforcement... if that ought to spark your imagination, you're gonna shit your pants when I tell you what happened on the phone call. It'll absolutely blow your mind."

The Significance of Community Support

Woody highlights the critical role that the podcast’s community has played in keeping Hailey’s case alive, crediting their persistent advocacy as a catalyst for the recent engagement from the DA’s office.

Woody Overton [05:12]: "Remind yourself that every single phone call, every single email, everything you sent smoke signal, it worked okay. It's been over two years. Ms. Barbara's got nothing until today. And it all came because of you lifers putting the pressure."

He likens the pursuit of justice to a war, emphasizing the need for sustained effort and resilience from the community.

Woody Overton [06:04]: "This is a war. It's not one battle. And so you got to fight a war, numerous battles. You're going to win some of them, you're going to lose some of them. And hopefully, we don't expect to get our ass kicked and we think we're going to win in the end."

Anticipation for Upcoming Developments

As the episode draws to a close, Woody teases the release of detailed revelations in the next episode scheduled for Friday. He encourages listeners to stay tuned for a comprehensive analysis of the DA’s update and outlines the steps the community will take to further Hailey’s quest for justice.

Woody Overton [07:59]: "Until next time or ever, don't let me catch you down on murder by you."

Conclusion

"Justice For Hailey: Call With Cobb County District Attorney Update" serves as both a reflection on the strides made in Hailey’s case and a rallying cry for continued advocacy. Woody Overton adeptly balances the update’s optimistic undertones with the gravity of the situation, setting the stage for future episodes that promise to peel back more layers of this intricate case.

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Notable Quotes with Timestamps

• Woody Overton [00:36]: "Today strictly #JusticeForHailey... it was a very, very positive thing."
• Woody Overton [01:48]: "She wanted a fresh angle from Ms. Barbara..."
• Woody Overton [02:00]: "Next week we're going to push out an episode... do another call to action."
• Woody Overton [03:56]: "It's too early to let that cat out of the bag... it'll absolutely blow your mind."
• Woody Overton [05:12]: "Remind yourself that every single phone call... put the pressure."
• Woody Overton [06:04]: "This is a war. It's not one battle..."
• Woody Overton [07:59]: "Until next time or ever, don't let me catch you down on murder by you."

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Looking Forward Listeners can anticipate a follow-up episode that promises to divulge the intricacies of the conversation between Hailey’s family and the new DA, along with actionable steps to bolster the campaign for justice. Woody's dedication and the community's relentless support continue to shine as pillars in the fight to uncover the truth behind Hailey’s case.

Transcript

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[Unknown Speaker]

Foreign.

[Woody Overton]

Real Crime the podcast as always, I'm your host, Woody Overton. Today strictly hashtag justice for Haley. And as you know, the family, Ms. Barbara, Stella and Tyler had the phone call with the new district attorney today. And y' all, it was well over an hour and a half. There was a whole, whole, whole lot that was said and discussed. And I think it's a very, very positive thing. I think that this new district attorney, I know she had no idea, none, zero percent about Haley's case other than what she had been told from one of the old prosecutors who was on the case that was in the room and it was only her and him. So she want said she didn't want to know anything. All she knew was that her Facebook and everything was getting blown up by lifers.

[Unknown Speaker]

All right.

[Woody Overton]

And she wanted a fresh explanation, if.

[Unknown Speaker]

You will, from the family.

[Woody Overton]

She wanted a fresh angle on from Miss Barbara and then angle on what was going on. And I'm not going to disclose anything today because I want to take this weekend off. It's Happy Mother's Day. Happy Mother's Day to everyone and we love y' all children. Take care of your mamas. And, and next week, Ms. Barbara and I are going to have several phone calls and continue to discuss what happened today. And next week we're going to push out a episode on Friday, hashtag justice for Haley. We're going to explain everything and then we're going to do another call to action. But don't, whatever you do now, don't say anything negative about this new district attorney. And I guess that's kind of letting the cat out of the bag. But it's a whole lot, y' all and, and, and you're gonna get really pissed off when you hear about it, but then you get really excited when you hear about it. So all I want to do today is again, because this thing is the most dramatic thing that can be played, but going to play that 911 call again. But I want to talk to y' all about it ahead of time and I know it's a holiday weekend. But next week if you send anything. The she really pays the she being Madam District Attorney really pays attention to her Facebook page that that was mentioned more than anything else. You could just send a thank you for taking Ms. Barbara's phone call. And and we look forward to, you know, seeing what's going to happen with the case. And again, it'll be even more of a call to action with more we'll give you more instructions because then you will understand what happened next week.

[Unknown Speaker]

The But I think it's too early.

[Woody Overton]

It's too early to let that cat out of the bag and it's too early. Look there there could certainly be some shade throne but not at the new district attorney. It's not her fault.

[Unknown Speaker]

All right.

[Woody Overton]

But I do believe I'm going tell you this. The new district attorney was 30 years in law enforcement, all right, Meaning not as prosecutor, 30 years as an old woody solving crimes. So if that ought to spark your imagination, you're gonna shit your pants when I tell you what happened on the phone call. It'll absolutely blow your mind. And so but I we would need to do that in a full length episode when everyone is going to be listening. And that'll be next Friday because rightfully so people are doing it's late on Friday now. And you'll get this for Saturday but and tomorrow is Sunday being Mother's Day. You'll take your time with Your families told Ms. Barbara take her time and try to enjoy Stella and Tyler even though she won't have Haley again for Mother's Day.

[Unknown Speaker]

So.

[Woody Overton]

Listen to the 911 call again. Remind yourselves while we're doing this, remind yourself of all the episodes and everything that we laid out in order. And more importantly, remind yourself that every single phone call, every single email, every single whatever you sent smoke signal, it worked okay. It's been over two years. Ms. Barber's got nothing until today. And it all came because of you lifers putting the pressure. And that is a beautiful thing. And what's going to happen in Haley's case going forward is going to all be because of what you lifers have done and continue to do. And look, this is a war. It's not one battle.

[Unknown Speaker]

This is a war.

[Woody Overton]

And so you got to fight a war, numerous battles. You're going to win some of them, you're going to lose some of them. And hopefully, I mean you wouldn't go to war expecting to get your ass kicked and certainly we don't. And we certainly think we're going to win in the end, but can't do it without lifers and Ms. Barber be the first one to tell y' all. So, again, full explanations coming. Oh, God, it was a lot, y' all, but full explanations are coming. But I, I know that this Madam Prosecutor, the new da, I, I think, you know. Yeah, it's just, wait. I believe she's. She's a lady of her word, and she's going to back her word. And I also know for a fact that she didn't have a clue what she was walking into today. And the. But I mean, you know, it is what it is. So with that, have a happy, happy Mother's Day. Love all y' all. I'll probably have sin cut the 911 down to however long. Maybe play, play that first episode again. It's just to remind you, hey, who in the world gets these kind of results?

[Unknown Speaker]

We do.

[Woody Overton]

You lived Haley's story. You fought for Haley's story. And we're going to continue to do so. Hopefully we won't have to fight too hard because everything's going to be presented the way it should be presented. And I love and appreciate each and every one of you. Thank you so much for all that you've done for us over the years and you do for us now, and you continue to do. And I'm Woody Overton, you host the Real Life, Real Crime, the podcast. Until next time or ever, don't let me catch you down on murder by you.

[Unknown Speaker]

Peace. Hello, everybody. Welcome to this episode of Real Life, Real Crime, the podcast. As always, I'm your host, Woody Overton. And today we're going to be beginning, we're gonna have the inaugural of the new series, hashtag justice4. And y' all know lifers that we've had the success in the past on solving cold cases using the podcast because of Yalls help. And we're going to do it again. But this is going to be the deepest dive I've ever taken into any case in my career, whether it's in law enforcement or doing it as a podcaster. And even Corny Coco's case, even though it went on for years, because I went to every court hearing and every motion and everything else, because I promised with Stephanie that I would. But this case, this, that I'm going.

To tell you about today, is absolutely horrible.

It's sickening and it's different. And I have the family with me today. I'm going to introduce them a second. I want to tell y' all something what we're going to do is tell you about the victim and. And let the family. Family tell you about her, etc. And then we're going to go in to what happened. But before we do that, I'm going to play a 911 call from the day that changed this family's life forever. Okay. And we'll play the 911 call and then we're going to introduce the family. 91 1.

[911 Operator]

What's the location of your emergency?

[Aiden]

Hi, I'm at Campus Edge, 950 Hudson Road Southeast. Some guy just came knocking on my door to my apartment saying that his wife is stroking out and hasn't been able to breathe for a few minutes.

[911 Operator]

Okay, and do you know the apartment to the person that came to your door?

[Aiden]

I do not. He got me to call and ran off to try and help her.

[911 Operator]

Okay, and what's your apartment number?

[Aiden]

309.

[Barbara Johnson]

Okay.

[911 Operator]

Give me one second. What's your name, sir?

[Aiden]

My name's Austin Meek.

[911 Operator]

Okay, and what's a good callback number for you?

[Aiden]

770.

[911 Operator]

Okay. Do you know how old the person is?

[Aiden]

I do not.

[911 Operator]

And just a firm. Is she breathing normally? Do you. Do you know?

[Aiden]

I have no idea. I don't even know where they are. I just. He came up, knocked and ran off.

[Unknown Speaker]

Okay.

[911 Operator]

And you said you don't know what apartment he's in? Is he on your phone?

[Aiden]

They're. They're in apartment 312.

[911 Operator]

They're in apartment 312?

[Aiden]

Yes.

[911 Operator]

Are you there now?

[Aiden]

I am. I'm right outside. Okay.

[911 Operator]

What's going on?

[Aiden]

You okay? I don't. She's lying on the ground. Yeah. Thank you. Can you please hold her up?

[911 Operator]

She's laying on. Is she breathing?

[Aiden]

Is she breathing at all? Dude, I don't know. Try and roll her over. Dude. Come on, come on, come on. Roll over.

[911 Operator]

Hey, is she breathing?

[Aiden]

It doesn't look like it.

[Barbara Johnson]

Breathe.

[Aiden]

She's Breathe. She's coveting blood. Come on, man. It looks like she's bleeding out of her mouth. Oh my God. No. Baby, please.

[Unknown Speaker]

Come on.

[Aiden]

Please don't die. What the hell? No. Come on. You got this, baby. Come on. Push her down. Pull her shirt down. Please come home, baby. Please don't die.

[911 Operator]

Okay, what's going on? Oh my God.

[Aiden]

New baby. Please don't. Ma' am.

[911 Operator]

Hey, how old is she?

[Aiden]

How old is she? 20. She's 20. Her head feels like.

[911 Operator]

Did she take any medicine?

[Aiden]

She said her. He said her head feels like it's been caved in.

[Barbara Johnson]

Her head?

[Aiden]

Yeah, I mean, her head looks normal.

[911 Operator]

With her.

[Aiden]

Her. Her fiance.

[911 Operator]

What's going on with her? Is she breathing?

[Aiden]

She's not breathing. Her eyes are open and glazed over and she's covered in blood.

[911 Operator]

She's covered in blood.

[Aiden]

She is covered in blood.

[911 Operator]

Okay, where'd the blood come from?

[Aiden]

It looks like it's coming from her mouth and her nose.

[911 Operator]

Okay, give me one second. Can you ask the. The fiance what happened?

[Aiden]

Do you know what happened, dude? No, I don't know what happened, but he was okay, and then. Oh, my God. Yeah. Yeah, she was okay, and then she, like, fell down. He said she was okay, and then she fell down and.

[911 Operator]

Okay, ask him, did she take anything?

[Aiden]

Okay. Did she take anything? No. He said no.

[Barbara Johnson]

No.

[Aiden]

Oh, my God. Baby, come on.

[Unknown Speaker]

You're okay.

[Aiden]

You're okay. I think we need to get to her. Like a hospital. Yeah, we got.

[911 Operator]

Yeah, we have someone around.

[Aiden]

Okay. Okay. She needs to go to a hospital for sure.

[911 Operator]

Okay, Is she breathing now?

[Aiden]

She's. She's not breathing completely.

[911 Operator]

Okay, does it look like her chest is rising?

[Aiden]

No, it's not.

[911 Operator]

Okay, give me one second, okay? What's going on with her, Aiden?

[Aiden]

I don't know. There's. There's just blood everywhere, and there's actually blood spattered on the wall by the couch.

[911 Operator]

And he said he doesn't know what happened.

[Aiden]

He doesn't know what happened. He said she was fine one minute, and then she. She stood up and just fell over.

[911 Operator]

Okay, give me one second. Stay on the line. Okay.

[Aiden]

Okay, hold on. Baby, come on. You're okay. You're okay. You're okay, baby.

[Unknown Speaker]

Come on.

[Aiden]

You're okay. You're okay. Come on, baby. You're okay. Come on. You're okay, baby. You're okay, baby. Come on. Don't. Don't die on me, please.

[911 Operator]

Are you still there, Aiden?

[Aiden]

I am. I'm out. The fire department's here.

[911 Operator]

Okay, and where's the fiance?

[Aiden]

She. They're still upstairs in the room. He's trying to get her to breathe.

[911 Operator]

Okay, and just to confirm, you said the blood was on the wall by the couch?

[Aiden]

Yes. It. It looks. It's. I don't know. It honestly kind of. It looks like a murder scene in there.

[911 Operator]

Okay, just stay on the line with me. Let me know when fire gets up there with her.

[Aiden]

I will. Next one's up for 312. 312. No, up one more. One more flight. The fire department's going into the apartment now.

[911 Operator]

Okay, just stay on the phone with me until they get up there.

[Aiden]

I Will it?

[911 Operator]

Aiden, are you still there?

[Aiden]

I am.

[911 Operator]

Okay, and where are you?

[Aiden]

I'm out of the way. I'm down at the bottom of the stairs.

[911 Operator]

Okay, what's going on?

[Aiden]

I'm not sure. I know the fire department's in there and I know that they just pulled. It looks like they pulled a shotgun out of the apartment and set it to the side and unloaded it.

[911 Operator]

Okay, just stay on the line with me, okay?

[Aiden]

I will.

[911 Operator]

Okay, and just to confirm, you said they pulled a shotgun out?

[Aiden]

That's what it looks like. I can't tell from here. I'm just say I know it was definitely a gun.

[911 Operator]

All right, was it fire that pulled it out?

[Aiden]

Yes. Yeah, no one else is here yet.

[911 Operator]

Okay.

[Unknown Speaker]

All right, y' all, you just heard what happened.

[911 Operator]

Aiden, do you know if she's breathing?

[Aiden]

I. I don't. I'm staying completely out of the way. Okay, I. I can't see into their apartment from up here or down here.

[Unknown Speaker]

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[911 Operator]

Okay, Aiden, I'm going to let you go, but I appreciate you standing on the line with me.

[Aiden]

Yeah, it's no problem at all.

[911 Operator]

Thank you for calling it in.

[Aiden]

Thank you for sending somebody out.

[911 Operator]

No problem.

[Aiden]

Bye.

[Unknown Speaker]

All right, y' all, you just heard what happened. So on December 26, 2022. Right. And so I'm. I'm here before we get into the story and and everything that happened and didn't happen, etc. I'm here. I'm in a hot land. And it's actually not that hot outside. Y' all ever went outside this morning, this Vegas in the 60s. And then in Louisiana, it was 79. But I'm here in the. In a hotel room when the suite, the. If the sound, audio and everything is not perfect, just forgive us, right? It's a lot better than it was than what it was years ago. But you may hear the air conditioner kick on. You may hear whatever noises, just ignore it. And what we're here to do today is tell the story of. Of Haley. So it's hashtag justice for Haley. Okay? And I have Ms. Barbara Johnson. All right, introduce yourself.

[Barbara Johnson]

Hi. I'm Haley's mom, Barbara.

[Unknown Speaker]

Okay. And in. Y' all know I'm bad with names.

[Stella Johnson]

Stella. I'm her sister, Stella Johnson.

[Unknown Speaker]

Right. And.

[Barbara Johnson]

Oh, Tyler.

[Unknown Speaker]

I'm a family friend. Okay. And. And I want to thank y' all for coming in. Ms. Barbara, the. You and I haven't talked for a long time. Kind of hit and miss. I was Woody Overton being Woody Overton. And finally one day, you were Mama Baron. Y' all just. This family is amazing. And. And the love they have for Haley is amazing. But Ms. Barbara kept. Mama Bear kept pushing and checking in, and I was like, you know what? We're gonna. We're gonna do this. And. And so this first one I've done outside the state of Louisiana, and we're here now. I know this tough, y' all, we're going to tell you who Haley was and everything, and we'll get to that in a second. But at the end, as we did in the past, I'm gonna do a call to action episode, and we'll let you know what we need to do to get justice for Haley. Okay? So Ms. Barbara.

[Stella Johnson]

Yes.

[Unknown Speaker]

Stella and Tyler. All right, so we're going to do y' all. I want to talk about Haley. And then Ms. Barbie, you sent me some pictures. Halo's beautiful. Looks just like you. Beautiful girl. And I know you're very proud of that. And y' all, I'll post and share the pictures always. I have a baby picture all the way to. I was soon too close to time of. Of her murder. I'm not calling it death. I'm gonna. I'm gonna lay it out from the beginning. Beginning and the. When I. Let me. Let me say this. Ms. Barbara has provided me with more information than any case that I've ever had. More audio, even Some stuff with video and everything else. And we're going to be playing these different things throughout this series when it comes to time. Right. So that was one of the determining factors in. Taken this is that you had so much information and oh, golly, they. Y' all, you just stick with it. You're going to be shocked. Ms. Bart, tell me about Haley. What was her date of birth? November 30th. Some. Some.

[Barbara Johnson]

November 23rd.

[Unknown Speaker]

23Rd. Because close to Thanksgiving, right?

[Barbara Johnson]

Yeah.

[Unknown Speaker]

So she was born in 2001.

[Barbara Johnson]

Yeah. Right after. Right after 9, 11. So.

[Unknown Speaker]

Wow. And they, you know, people say 30 years ago. I'm thinking back to the 70s. That's only 90 cents in 2001. I was then the detective. I was 30, 31 years old. Wow. So November 23rd, 2001.

[Barbara Johnson]

Yeah.

[Unknown Speaker]

And. And you had her. And she was perfect. Okay, tell me about that. Everybody.

Everybody.

I don't. I want to know, but everybody needs to know. She comes in this world.

My.

My first grand baby ever. My granddaughter was born last week. Yeah, last week. Right. And this potato came out and. And all that. I hadn't got to hold her yet. I'm. When I leave here, I'm going to San Diego. But the. Tell me about that moment.

[Barbara Johnson]

Well, I had her at home. We did. Yeah.

[Unknown Speaker]

Okay.

[Barbara Johnson]

And so it was really nice. Yeah.

[Unknown Speaker]

Yeah.

[Barbara Johnson]

But she just had a light about her from. From the minute she came into this.

[Unknown Speaker]

World, she was just. Did you know she was. It was gonna be a boy or girl?

[Barbara Johnson]

No.

[Unknown Speaker]

Okay. So you were surprised. So she comes in the world. Was she screaming mad or.

[Barbara Johnson]

No.

[Unknown Speaker]

Really?

[Barbara Johnson]

No. She was so good. Now, she did have cholate later.

[Unknown Speaker]

Yeah. Yeah. I lived through those days too.

[Woody Overton]

Right.

[Barbara Johnson]

But in the beginning, she was just happy. And you could see that she was.

[Unknown Speaker]

Trying to learn things like from the beginning, so say. And so she was very smart. And people don't realize that. And then everybody says their baby's pretty and stuff like that. Some of them are ugly as hell.

But the.

Not everybody says their kids are intelligent like that. So I talked about my granddaughter. The nurse and stuff are like saying same type of thing. She's looking, she's searching. And they said that's a sign of high. And tell her. So Haley was doing the same thing.

[Barbara Johnson]

Oh, yeah. Yeah. From the beginning, she. She was just inquisitive about everything. She, you know, she was kind. You could see her brain working like she was learning things and picking things up, you know, by. By a year old, she was speaking in sentences, really not, you know, not.

[Unknown Speaker]

Yeah.

[Barbara Johnson]

Big Sentences. But she was speaking in sentences. She was just.

[Unknown Speaker]

She's a little, Little angel, huh? And see, how did you come up with the name Haley?

[Barbara Johnson]

Her dad's name was Harley.

[Unknown Speaker]

Okay, all right, well, that's cool.

We all have.

We all have those, those relationships.

[Barbara Johnson]

So we called her Haley Bean.

[Unknown Speaker]

Haley Bean. And then what, what, does she have a middle name?

[Barbara Johnson]

It was Jade.

[Unknown Speaker]

Haley Jade Johnson. Haley J. Bean. Johnson. So she's one year old and stumbling around and.

[Barbara Johnson]

Yeah, we, we went for a. We went on a flight, which I've never flown before, so I was nervous and worried about everything. She was just in as happy as she could be. And so we get on the plane, and naturally there's eye rolls and like, oh, God, a baby.

[Unknown Speaker]

Oh, God. He screamed the whole time.

[Barbara Johnson]

Everybody is like, by the end of the trip, everybody was talking to her.

[Unknown Speaker]

Oh, so. Just a joy, huh? So, Stella, when were you born?

[Stella Johnson]

I was born, like, when she was three and half.

[Aiden]

A.

[Stella Johnson]

She was like, three and a half.

[Unknown Speaker]

Okay.

[Stella Johnson]

She was still pretty young. She cut my umbilical cord.

[Unknown Speaker]

Really?

[Barbara Johnson]

Yes.

[Unknown Speaker]

Come on. So she was a good big sister?

[Barbara Johnson]

The best. She was just motherly and bossy from the beginning.

[Unknown Speaker]

Right. So she was excited during the whole pregnancy and everything else. And, you know, baby sisters coming. And so then you get there, you have a three and a half year old, cut you up, approximately cut your umbilical cord. What did she say about that? What did Haley. I mean, I, I, I'm so. I like to picture it in my head.

[Barbara Johnson]

She was so excited. Like, my sister's here, and, you know, she was there for the whole thing. I think some of it was maybe a little traumatic.

[Unknown Speaker]

Yeah, yeah.

[Barbara Johnson]

She was, you know, she wanted to be there, so we let her be there. But she's.

[Unknown Speaker]

Wow. And then so from that day on, she's big sis.

[Barbara Johnson]

Yeah. Always, like, you know, we had a huge group of friends, and they would, you know, come over, we would watch ufc, or we'd have little house parties, and they would bring all their kids, and Haley was just in charge of.

[Unknown Speaker]

All right.

[Barbara Johnson]

She was just that way.

[Unknown Speaker]

That's awesome.

[Barbara Johnson]

When she went youngest.

[Unknown Speaker]

Yeah.

[Barbara Johnson]

She would come home and put all her dolls in the floor and cover them up with blankets.

[Unknown Speaker]

Come on. Like, not like it's nap time. Very, very, very loving life. Very just.

[Barbara Johnson]

Oh, yeah.

[Unknown Speaker]

Describe some. Something else about her personality for me at that young age, and then we'll, we'll move on to when Stella remembers.

[Stella Johnson]

She was comforting. That's what I remember about her. She was very nurturing and Very comforting.

[Unknown Speaker]

Yeah.

[Stella Johnson]

Like, she just knew what to say no matter what you were going through or, like, what you were, you know.

[Barbara Johnson]

Yeah.

[Stella Johnson]

What you were experiencing. She just kind of knew what to say to make you calm down and get your.

[Barbara Johnson]

Together.

[Unknown Speaker]

Yeah.

[Barbara Johnson]

But she. She was always. She was just. Always just super inquisitive about everything. And that was through her entire life. She always was interested in, you know, if she saw something that she was interested in, she'd research it and look through, and she just was always that way. And, you know, we'd be outside, and she's down looking at the bugs or the leaves. Look at this or look at that. And she's very. I know all kids do that. But she was very interested in everything that was going on and trying to learn as much as she could.

[Unknown Speaker]

That's awesome. Right before we get to you, Stella. So she goes to school. Where did she. I mean, I didn't give a. About school until I had to pay for it myself in college. And then I made straight A's. Right. But I hated school. But how was she in school?

[Barbara Johnson]

She was straight A's.

[Unknown Speaker]

Really? Yeah. Yeah, always.

[Barbara Johnson]

But once I got sick, things sort of. Sort of.

[Unknown Speaker]

Yeah.

[Barbara Johnson]

Fell apart.

[Unknown Speaker]

Yeah. I understand. As life happens, right? And then. So, Stella, tell me y' all are young kids. Tell me, you know, some. Some of your favorite memories. Let's start with this one. Tell me the. The time. Because every kid gets in trouble. Tell me this time, you and her got your worst whooping or something like that. You may not ever get whooped. But the. What's something that as. Not. Not in teenage years when. When you're young. What's something that y' all got in trouble for? For.

[Barbara Johnson]

Oh, God.

[Lowe's Advertisement]

I only.

[Unknown Speaker]

Really.

[Stella Johnson]

Because truthfully, Haley was a very, very good. Well, respect. Like, she respected everyone. She didn't really, like, get into trouble. Like most of our, like, oh, okay, we stole a cookie from. We did, like, stupid little kid stuff. But it's when we got into our teenage years that we've really started to.

[Barbara Johnson]

Give her a hard time.

[Unknown Speaker]

Specifically, I gave my parents hell. And my daddy said, we thought for so many years we were gonna have to visit Woody on the cell block, and he ended up putting people on the cell block. I get the teenage years. So teenage years come and y' all, I guess, as boys or whatever. And how were they as teenagers? Mom?

[Barbara Johnson]

Everything was great until, you know, we had. I started my own business. And so that was rough at the start. You know, being a single mom is a lot. And then having that pressure of trying, you know, trying to. And so I was stressed and we were struggling and I kind of work more than I wanted to. And so things sort of, you know, we had like a little turbulence during that time.

[Unknown Speaker]

Right.

[Barbara Johnson]

And she started kind of, you know, acting out a little bit. Not, not really acted out. She just started changing friends and kind of.

[Unknown Speaker]

Yeah, I. I don't think there's anybody listening that didn't have some kind of teenage year stuff. Right. That's. That's human nature. The look my daughters went from, from. I went from being the coolest dude in the world to the dumbest ass in the world. And. And I get that. So. Yeah, I swell. My parents used to go to bed at like 9 o' clock and 915 hours out the window and say that's the way it was. All right, let me ask you this favorite food. What is her favorite thing that, that you cook that she liked the most?

[Barbara Johnson]

Oh, wow.

[Unknown Speaker]

Or a couple of so many.

[Barbara Johnson]

Yeah, she loved. I make this pasta called summer pasta. She loved that corn.

[Unknown Speaker]

Really?

[Stella Johnson]

Over creamed corn.

[Unknown Speaker]

Yeah.

[Stella Johnson]

The nastiest stuff I like.

[Unknown Speaker]

Yeah.

[Stella Johnson]

I'll never get it. I can't.

[Unknown Speaker]

That's cool. That's cool. Cream corn and pasta.

[Barbara Johnson]

Yeah. Trader Joe's. We. She loved Trader Joe's.

[Unknown Speaker]

Yeah.

[Barbara Johnson]

Pretty much everything from there.

[Unknown Speaker]

Yeah. Pretty cool place, right?

[Barbara Johnson]

You know, we always made a big holiday dinner, so it always do the whole thing.

[Unknown Speaker]

Right.

[Barbara Johnson]

Well, later on. Later on I didn't always do the turkey, but we did, you know, the stuffing and the.

[Unknown Speaker]

Did she ever help you cook and stuff or not too much.

[Barbara Johnson]

Yeah, she didn't care. But now once she moved out, she started cooking a lot.

[Unknown Speaker]

Right.

[Barbara Johnson]

It was really good.

[Unknown Speaker]

Right. Well, sounds like an all American girl, huh? Stella. I mean, pretty cool. Big sister to have.

[Barbara Johnson]

Yeah, she was.

[Stella Johnson]

Protected me.

[Barbara Johnson]

She was crazy independent. She told me from the time she was little, you know, when I get 18, I'm moving out. 18, I'm moving out.

[Unknown Speaker]

And yep, I did the same thing. And that's, that's. Yeah, some people, I mean, some people stay home and some don't. Right, right. She just wanted to be independent. I just want to do what I. Yeah, yeah. And I made her right out into the Army. So she's 18, she moves out and.

[Barbara Johnson]

Well, I back up a little bit. I got sick, really sick.

[Unknown Speaker]

And so if you do, do you mind telling explaining that to us because I. I heard in some of your materials and stuff about you being sick and I think it's, it's important. So Ms. Barbara, if you don't mind, tell us about your illness.

[Barbara Johnson]

Yeah, well, I had just opened a business about six months before. Working like crazy, stressed like crazy. And, you know, but we were getting by and the business was starting to pick up. Everything was starting to really look good. One day I started having trouble walking upstairs. So it progressed. And they kept saying, look, you know, it's. It's you hurt your back or whatever, you know, and. But within a month, I was in Emory Hospital almost completely paralyzed. And I was there for four and a half months. When I got home, I couldn't even. If my head fell over, I couldn't even pick my head back up.

[Unknown Speaker]

Yeah.

[Barbara Johnson]

But during that time, you know, it was really hard on the girls.

[Unknown Speaker]

Yeah.

[Barbara Johnson]

You know, they were used to me doing everything for them, and so they were having to stay with different people.

[Unknown Speaker]

Yeah.

[Barbara Johnson]

You know, it was just really hard, hard times. So, you know, Haley had to learn to adult really quick.

[Unknown Speaker]

How old would she have been? Around the same.

[Barbara Johnson]

16. Just turned 16. And so, you know, she. She would do everything for Stella that Stella needed. She would come visit me in the hospital every night. And that was a 30, 45 minute drive.

[Unknown Speaker]

Wow.

[Barbara Johnson]

Every night?

[Unknown Speaker]

Yeah.

[Barbara Johnson]

She went to school. She was helping in the shop. She. She just. I don't know what I, Like, I don't even know how to describe, like, how sweet she was and how much she did and how hard it had to be for her.

[Unknown Speaker]

Yeah.

[Barbara Johnson]

You know, and it was hard for me because I couldn't. I couldn't do anything.

[Unknown Speaker]

Yeah.

[Barbara Johnson]

And so.

[Unknown Speaker]

But you know what? She got that work ethic and that, that love from you, you know, that. And so I know that doesn't make it any easier for you.

[Barbara Johnson]

She was. Yeah, she was above and beyond anything I've ever done. She was just, you know, and. And so it was really, really hard on her. And she wanted to, you know, stay, start homeschooling after I came home so she could be there. And I. I tried to talk her out of it and, you know, said, we'll just get somebody to come, but no, she wanted to. And so she helped me. And I don't. I don't know what I would have done or if I would even be able to walk now.

[Unknown Speaker]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Barbara Johnson]

I was in a wheelchair for two years.

[Unknown Speaker]

Wow.

[Barbara Johnson]

So she was, you know, took me to every doctor's appointment. Yeah, she, you know, she just stepped up and did everything.

[Unknown Speaker]

It's amazing. She loved you, huh? Right.

[Barbara Johnson]

And even. Even after I started walking and driving myself and going to my doctor's appointments. You know, I'd be talking to her on the phone, and she's, you know, say I got a doctor's appointment. Well, do you want me to go with you?

[Unknown Speaker]

Yeah, I'm fine. Oh, wow.

[Woody Overton]

The.

[Unknown Speaker]

Pretty amazing Estella.

[Barbara Johnson]

She's the best.

[Unknown Speaker]

The best, huh?

[Barbara Johnson]

Yeah. She was almost as much a mom to Stella as I was.

[Unknown Speaker]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Stella Johnson]

You don't like it when I say that, but she was.

[Barbara Johnson]

No, she was.

[Stella Johnson]

She was a big parental figure to me.

[Unknown Speaker]

But tell me about that.

[Stella Johnson]

A lot of times, mom would have to go off to work so that we be able to, like, eat.

[Woody Overton]

Right.

[Unknown Speaker]

I get it.

[Stella Johnson]

But we'd be left with, you know, our stepdad, and he wasn't the most responsible. So usually Haley had to pick up and feed me and make our little cinnamon toasts and do what we could.

[Unknown Speaker]

Yeah.

[Stella Johnson]

She always made sure that I was okay and fed and happy and getting what I needed.

[Unknown Speaker]

You can't. Can't put a price tag on that, huh?

[Barbara Johnson]

She had a lot of, like, OCD issues early on. And Haley would just, you know, really, like, nurture her through that and help her and, you know, explain to somebody else if they didn't understand that she was having a breakdown.

[Unknown Speaker]

And. And Stella, I told you earlier that. That I grew up with. Etc. But. But I didn't know it. And long story short, on the diagnosis of. But you know what the doctor told me said I've never met a person who had OCD that wasn't super intelligent. So put that one in your. In your brain. You say you have it. Own it. Okay. That. Don't let it define you. And I'm. I'm sure. I'm sure Haley would tell you the same thing. Right? Yeah, it's. It's. It's pretty much a generational thing. Yeah. I mean, I get mine for my daddy, so. Mom might have something to you, huh? All right, sorry. Look, she's a wonderful girl. She's a wonderful sister, a wonderful daughter. Sounds like a wonderful person. And she at some point, meets Brooks. What's his real. His real name?

[Barbara Johnson]

Brooks Cleary.

[Unknown Speaker]

Brooks Cleary. All right, so do y' all know where they met at?

[Barbara Johnson]

They met through Mazda. Was dating one of Haley's.

[Unknown Speaker]

And. And who's Masa?

[Barbara Johnson]

I'm sorry. It was their best or Brooks's best friend and became one of Haley's best friends.

[Unknown Speaker]

Right. Okay. And Mazda's a guy?

[Barbara Johnson]

Yes.

[Unknown Speaker]

Okay. So basically, they got introduced through Masa.

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Through that group. Yeah. Yeah. Right. Okay. What do you remember her telling you about him? And I mean, in the beginning, I'm sure it was.

[Barbara Johnson]

She didn't tell me about him in the beginning. You know, I could see that she was starting to act different. Not, not a bad way, just a more rebellious way. And so, you know, she, you know, I've got to run here, run there, and then she'd be gone, you know, for four hours. When she. It was a ten minute trip and things.

[Unknown Speaker]

Right.

[Barbara Johnson]

Something was going on.

[Unknown Speaker]

Right.

[Barbara Johnson]

But when I first found out about him, she got arrested. They got her together.

[Unknown Speaker]

Okay. And what'd they get arrested for?

[Barbara Johnson]

Marijuana and paraphernalia.

[Unknown Speaker]

Right.

[Barbara Johnson]

So happy.

[Unknown Speaker]

Yeah, I can see it on. Yeah, that's a hell of a way. An introduction. Right. So you get a call from the jail and she says, mom, I got arrested.

[Barbara Johnson]

Yeah.

[Unknown Speaker]

Yeah. Well, I mean she's already.

[Barbara Johnson]

Yeah, she's already grounded and she's. Please, it's so. And she went out and she got arrested.

[Unknown Speaker]

Yeah.

[Barbara Johnson]

So. Yeah, I didn't, didn't. You know, but the thing that. It's not that they got arrested for PI. Because kids would be kids.

[Unknown Speaker]

Right.

[Barbara Johnson]

It's that Mazda. And Brooks let her take the blame for everything because they didn't want to get in more trouble.

[Unknown Speaker]

Well, they, they were older or, or they're just. Or they had something on the, on the, they were on paper then. So they were on probation or parole. Oh, yeah. So the. Not to just interject this. One night when I was doing my private consulting, I flew all over the country and I had a hotel room in New Orleans because I was flying on a private jet the next morning to Maryland. And I get the phone call from the sheriff's office up in Tangibaho. And I'm not going to say who it was, but they said, is this one belonging to you? And I said, I said, yup. And they said, the sheriff said, you need to come get her. And he said, only you can come get her. Right. And it was for weed. So I get that. And the kids, and the kids. And I missed that flight and whatever. So I had the real red ass, too, about it. And so was she living at home then still? Yeah. Okay. All right. They get arrested together and this first time you meet this guy, Brooks Cleary.

[Barbara Johnson]

Yes. And I didn't meet him then.

[Unknown Speaker]

Right. Well. Well, that is. Well, you need it. Got arrested together.

[Stella Johnson]

I saw him walking out of the jail cell.

[Barbara Johnson]

No, I saw Mazda. Oh, yeah. I didn't see him that day. I didn't even know what he looked like. So not too long after that, she's, you know, I guess breaching the subject of, you know, do you want to meet him or. And she just, you know, I. I'll meet him, but I can't promise anything.

[Unknown Speaker]

Right.

[Barbara Johnson]

And so before the meeting, you know, I catch him sneaking out of her window one morning and not happy.

[Unknown Speaker]

Right, Right.

[Stella Johnson]

There's actually a picture of it.

[Unknown Speaker]

Really? She took a picture sneaking out the window. Wow.

[Barbara Johnson]

So, you know, we had a rough start.

[Unknown Speaker]

Right. That's how you just lay it out, if you want to lay it out. Because this is the, the chance for the listeners to, hey, we're all human beings. None of us are perfect.

[Barbara Johnson]

Yeah. So after that, you know, it was. I didn't like him, but I could see that I wasn't going to be.

[Unknown Speaker]

Able to get away from Right. When the harder probably you push. And then, you know, the pro pushed her hard to him. Right. So at some point she, she moves out.

[Barbara Johnson]

She went. Yeah. She kept wanting to spend the night there or him spending my house.

[Unknown Speaker]

It's progressing.

[Barbara Johnson]

You know, I told her, I said, you're almost 18. When you're 18, you can do whatever you want.

[Unknown Speaker]

Right.

[Barbara Johnson]

But here we have rules.

[Unknown Speaker]

Right?

[Barbara Johnson]

Well, yeah, it was about a month before, and I finally. She just blew it up to the.

[Unknown Speaker]

Point where I said, okay, go ahead. Go ahead and get you a taste of adulting. Right. Yeah.

[Barbara Johnson]

So she did. And they were very. They were both really angry at me at first. He was really angry.

[Unknown Speaker]

Why is he mad at you? Why is he mad at you?

[Barbara Johnson]

Because I wouldn't let. I guess I wouldn't let him stay.

[Unknown Speaker]

Because you were being a parent. You're being a good mom. Yeah. Yeah.

[Barbara Johnson]

Oh, yeah.

[Unknown Speaker]

Tell me about that.

[Barbara Johnson]

They were coming to get some of her things and, you know, she and I were. We weren't really arguing, but, you know, she wasn't happy. And I was trying to talk to her and he started. Started getting in the middle of everything and cussing at me and, you know.

[Unknown Speaker]

Classy.

[Barbara Johnson]

Yeah. And there was a point where I was kind of scared of him at right then at that moment.

[Stella Johnson]

But they start screaming at you, I wasn't here for this.

[Barbara Johnson]

Yeah, yeah, he was. He was in a different part of the house, but, yes, he was. Definitely.

[Unknown Speaker]

But how tall is he? Because that's the one thing I couldn't judge from the videos. The.

[Stella Johnson]

I think it's taller than me.

[Unknown Speaker]

Okay. All right. Anyways, like, what, 150, 160, something like that?

[Barbara Johnson]

Pretty fat.

[Unknown Speaker]

Okay.

[Barbara Johnson]

200.

[Unknown Speaker]

No, no. It's just that you can say whatever you want to say. This.

[Stella Johnson]

He puffed up because he drunk so much.

[Unknown Speaker]

Yeah.

[Barbara Johnson]

Yeah. He got big toward the end. He. You know, he was drinking.

[Unknown Speaker]

We'll get in that part, too, because I. I want to talk to y' all about some things on that. So they move out, and they moved into his mom's house. Correct.

[Barbara Johnson]

Right.

[Unknown Speaker]

And then the. At some point, they. They get an apartment.

[Barbara Johnson]

Well, they came back and stayed with me for a little while.

[Unknown Speaker]

Okay.

[Barbara Johnson]

I just couldn't tolerate him. He. The final str. You know, he wouldn't. He wouldn't even take the trash out. He wouldn't do anything. He didn't ask. He didn't ask. He stayed in the room. He came out to get food or whatever.

[Stella Johnson]

He sent me to go get food. He wouldn't go around the dog, so he sent me to go get him food.

[Unknown Speaker]

Hey, Stella, you tell me when. When he moves in, you're happy your sister's coming home, I would guess. But he. He moves in. Did you hang out with them?

[Stella Johnson]

I would always just try to get, like, alone time with Haley, but obviously he was, like, always there, and it was just, like the annoying, like, pest on the side, but you just kind of let it, like, be. But I more so just wanted to spend time with my sister, and I was happy she was there, but his. His behaviors were starting to really just piss me off.

[Unknown Speaker]

His true colors were showing.

[Barbara Johnson]

Yeah.

[Unknown Speaker]

Yeah.

[Stella Johnson]

And, I mean, I didn't like him anyway, but I tried to, because Haley loved him. So I tried to also convince myself that, like, it's fine. Like, you know, fine.

[Barbara Johnson]

But he just.

[Unknown Speaker]

I mean, tell me. Tell me about this. And I can already tell you, but I think what they would be. But. But obviously Haley was in love with him.

[Barbara Johnson]

Yeah.

[Unknown Speaker]

Right. And. But the. The way he treated her was. Was he controlling or domineering? Jealous? What?

[Stella Johnson]

He didn't let her wear shorts. He didn't let her have any friends, whether that was female or male.

[Unknown Speaker]

He didn't let her wear short girlfriend.

[Stella Johnson]

He called them a lesbian and that they were just trying to get in her pants and that she shouldn't talk to them, really.

[Unknown Speaker]

So that's like a controlling issue. Right. If I can keep everybody away from her, I can have total control. She has to depend on me. Right. Or he's also afraid that she's gonna meet some more and they're gonna be like, you can do better than this guy. Right? At that time, did you ever see hear verbal abuse or see any physical abuse?

[Barbara Johnson]

No, it was more just controlling. Controlling. And the final straw at the house, he, Haley, I had a doctor's appointment. Half the time he would sleep till 12 or 1 o' clock, you know, and sometimes 4 and 5, 6 o' clock, and I would have to go pick her up a lot. But I had a doctor's appointment in Atlanta. And so she got off work, and I, you know, I said, well, call him. Make him get up, but he won't wake up. I said, well, just stay there and I'll be there. And she goes, no, I'm gonna walk. That girl walked five miles home because he wouldn't get out of bed.

[Unknown Speaker]

Wow.

[Barbara Johnson]

Pouring rain.

[Unknown Speaker]

Wow.

[Barbara Johnson]

So, you know, I said. And I didn't just, like, go home and kick them out, but I told her, I said, you can. You always have a place with me. But he.

[Unknown Speaker]

He's got the guy, right? Nothing. Five miles in the rain because he.

[Barbara Johnson]

Wouldn'T get out of there.

[Unknown Speaker]

Yeah. So I guess he wasn't working. Yeah, yeah.

[Barbara Johnson]

He. He barely worked the whole time.

[Unknown Speaker]

I. I saw. And we'll get into. He had some audio later on, and he was like, oh, I worked as a. At the car wash, basically. That's the. Yeah, yeah. Right. Yeah. All right. Right. And see, he had, like, a couple jobs for like a month or two or whatever. And. Okay, look, I'm gonna get ahead of myself. So then they go to stay with his mama.

[Barbara Johnson]

Well, no, then they got their apartment.

[Unknown Speaker]

Okay. All right.

[Barbara Johnson]

I gave them time and they, you know, found an apartment and got their own apartment, which that's what Haley wanted all along.

[Unknown Speaker]

Right. Let me back up the. So when. When they were living with his mom. And I want to get this out there because it goes to Haley's character again. And we don't have to go into detail, but his sister has severe. Pretty. I would say. Is handicapped the right word or whatever.

[Barbara Johnson]

Challenge infantile autism.

[Unknown Speaker]

Yeah, but like Haley, from what I reviewed, Haley would, like, bather and. And take. Change her diapers and. And do all this stuff. She's like a three year old and that is. And they said every time Haley would come around even though she was, like, blind. Right. One blind. Okay, but so I thought somebody said she was blind. But the. Every time Haley would come around, she would get excited and. And. Right. Just par for the course. And so they're back with you, and you tell him, hey, he's got to go. And then. So they go out and they get the apartment. It's at the old college town part. That first apartment.

[Barbara Johnson]

Yeah.

[Unknown Speaker]

Okay.

[Barbara Johnson]

It's the same apartment complex, but they got the first.

[Unknown Speaker]

They moved. They moved from the one without a washer dryer into another one that had a washer dryer. Right. How long do they stay there for? Before the murder, I think it was.

[Barbara Johnson]

Probably maybe two, two and a half years. And she loved her apartment. She loved being an adult. Her apartment, doing her own thing, cooking, decorating, how she wanted to. She loved it. I mean, loved it.

[Unknown Speaker]

Stella, did you ever go over there and hang out? All the time, man. I remember my older brothers and sisters got apart condos at lsu. I thought I was a big timer. Go there and have fun. Right, Right. No. Yeah. Mom's not taking the fence. She knows.

[Barbara Johnson]

You know, he. He. I don't think he wanted Stella to come over as much as she did.

[Unknown Speaker]

That's. That goes back to the controlling part.

[Barbara Johnson]

She.

[Stella Johnson]

She made it very clear to him. She told him many a time that if it ever came down to it, that she's choosing me over him.

[Unknown Speaker]

Yeah, yeah, that's. That was a deal breaker.

[Stella Johnson]

Yeah. But she still.

[Barbara Johnson]

She still loved him.

[Stella Johnson]

It's just she. She chose family over him and.

[Unknown Speaker]

Right. Well, so they're There. Been a half years. That's a while. So how old were you then?

[Stella Johnson]

So by the time she got her.

[Unknown Speaker]

Apartment, well, yeah, that's two and a half years. You're three and a half years ago. So you were a teenager?

[Stella Johnson]

I was like, 15.

[Barbara Johnson]

15, okay.

[Unknown Speaker]

And then life goes on. The relationship. Did it die or. Were you ever aware of any type of physical abuse or anything like that?

[Barbara Johnson]

Toward the end and we started, I mean. And she would never say he hit her anything. She did tell us one time she came to stay at the house, and they were supposedly gonna break up, which I was really happy about, but she said that he had. She grabbed the keys to keep him from driving because he was drinking a lot, and he pushed her in the bathtub, and she was pretty bruised up.

[Unknown Speaker]

So.

[Stella Johnson]

Yeah, she told me about it all.

[Barbara Johnson]

She wouldn't tell me.

[Unknown Speaker]

Stella, do you mind?

[Stella Johnson]

Yeah, well, obviously it came out in the sisterhood, but she. One Time it was the bathtub time was the second time. But these were the only times she told me. I saw them fight a lot and sometimes I'd see her have something that looked like a black eye. And it was very obvious that he wasn't being treated properly by him. But she told me many two stories that really stuck. One of them, she was drunk and she was trying to fight him for the keys so that he wouldn't, you know, like, kill himself behind the wheel. And he got really pissed and like threw her on the ground and took the keys and then left and. And then another time he, he grabbed her and shook her really hard to get her to shut up and then, and then walked away. And then the other time where he pushed her into the bathtub, she was, I think he locked her in the bathroom and she was banging on the door, trying to get out. And then he opened it really fast and like threw the door against her room really fast to where she went. Like, she was a small girl, but he was big at the time. So she just went flying into the bathtub and like, couldn't walk properly for like a week because her back was all bruised. And that's the times that I mainly remember. Oh, that was. Yeah, that. At the, at the. Their mom's house. At Brooks's mom's house. She got really, really skinny for a while cuz Dana didn't have any food.

[Unknown Speaker]

And that's his mom, Dana. Yeah.

[Barbara Johnson]

I think a lot of it was he wanted her to be skinny.

[Stella Johnson]

He wanted her to be skinny. So yeah, she lost. She got down to like 90 something. She's. She looked skin and bones.

[Barbara Johnson]

It was bad for a while.

[Unknown Speaker]

How tall is Haley?

[Barbara Johnson]

She's five feet.

[Unknown Speaker]

Five feet and, and five feet and had to run around the shower to get wet. Huh. Skinny, if that's that right. Yeah. But a pistol and like you said, I vote for what I researched. Etc. She, towards the end at least, was paying all the bills. Like she, she worked and, and she.

[Barbara Johnson]

Was getting tired of it. Yeah, she was finally starting to, to get tired of it. You know, she had to, she had to go to work with COVID She had to go to work with a broken toe because if she didn't, they would lose everything. So, you know, she was starting to get tired.

[Unknown Speaker]

So how old was she in. In 20. December 26, 2022.

[Barbara Johnson]

She had been 21 for a month.

[Unknown Speaker]

21 for a month. All right, y' all would play the 911 tape at the beginning of the episode. And so you, you know, obviously what happened on December 26, according to Brooks, clearly. And we're gonna I'm gonna get into each piece of that. We're gonna break it down in series and episodes.

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