Episode 191: Raylee Browning, Retold (Part 4)

Summary

---

Suffer the Little Children, Episode 191: "Raylee Browning, Retold (Part 4)"

Release Date: February 19, 2025
Host: Lane
Guest: Janice Wriston (Raylee’s mother)

Episode Overview

This emotional conclusion of a four-part retelling examines the tragic life and avoidable death of Raylee Browning, an eight-year-old who died due to severe abuse and neglect. Through an extensive, candid interview with Raylee's biological mother, Janice Wriston, host Lane provides a platform for Janice to share, in unflinching detail, her personal fight against a system that failed to protect her daughter. The episode explores the complexities of custody battles, the failures of CPS and the judicial system, and the enduring love and loss experienced by a mother denied justice.

---

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Living in Two Worlds: Advocacy and Grieving

Timestamps: 05:54 – 08:33

• Janice describes coping by “splitting her life into two aspects: the advocate pushing for Raylee’s Law and the grieving mother struggling with loss.”
• Quote: "There's the me that fights for Raylee's Law, bringing her voice out...and then there's me living my life" (Janice, 06:18)
• She recounts being dismissed, minimized, and stonewalled by authorities while desperately attempting to locate and save Raylee.

2. Systemic Failures: Schools, CPS, and the Courts

Timestamps: 06:18 – 11:08

• A pattern of inaction and “shutting down” is detailed as Janice is ignored by schools, CPS, and the courts—even as multiple reports and red flags accumulate.
• Quote: "This child disappears off the face of the earth...and there's me going to the school, like, 'Hey, I'm looking for my daughter,' and they're like, 'She hasn't been here since 2016.'" (Janice, 06:32)
• Janice describes records disappearing from the court after Raylee's death, and being gaslit by officials who suggested she was simply “the crazy ex.”

3. The Abuse: Escalation, Denial, and Scapegoating

Timestamps: 11:08 – 21:05, 44:42 – 53:54

• Janice recounts years of warnings to authorities about Raylee’s abuse, each time met with indifference or blame-shifting.
• Raylee’s time with her mother was safe and loving, contrasted sharply with fear and silence after returns from her father’s house.
• Repeated, implausible explanations for injuries, including a broken femur (“she kicked a wall”) and severe belt marks, are discussed.
• Quote: “Every single time, if Raylee had a mark, bruise, bug bites...I would always make sure, you know, my daughter better not come back over saying this thing about you guys. I will see him back in court again if it keeps going on. And I don’t want to see her with any bruises, marks, scratches, anything.” (Janice, 14:36)
• The abusers retaliate with false CPS reports against Janice and her husband.

4. The Pain and Aftermath of Domestic Violence

Timestamps: 25:22 – 35:18

• Janice opens up about the abuse she endured from Marty Browning, Raylee’s father, which extended into threats against Raylee.
• She reflects on how isolating and helpless trying to leave an abusive relationship can be, and the judge’s lack of understanding about the realities of escaping violence.
• Quote: “The judge told me, he said, 'How many [protective orders] did you get on Mr. Browning?' I said, 'I didn’t. I didn’t even have a phone to get to.'” (Janice, 29:18)

5. Justice System Failures and Complicity

Timestamps: 53:54 – 56:04, 103:40 – 104:37

• The courts ignore detailed allegations of abuse, dismiss evidence, and threaten Janice when she presses for intervention.
• Even after injuries are obvious, such as belt marks that “cut and bled,” the case is dropped due to conflicting stories, while Marty refuses to take a polygraph, citing “blood sugar problems.”
• Quote: “The fact is that someone beat this child with a belt and we’re...going to just forget about it because we don’t know who.” (Lane, 53:54)

6. The Everyday Raylee: Memories and Personality

Timestamps: 13:34 – 16:44; 113:38 – 140:55

• Janice lovingly describes Raylee's intelligence, curiosity, gentle spirit, and everyday routines that highlighted the deep mother-daughter bond.
• Even in the midst of trauma, Raylee was described as “a mom’s girl, always on my lap,” and her scent “like sunshine on morning dew or honeysuckles.”
• Quote: "She was so special. She was so special in so many ways." (Janice, 100:15)

7. The Funeral and After: Grief Compounded by Cruelty

Timestamps: 75:59 – 98:44

• The family is forced into further confrontation over Raylee's funeral arrangements by Marty and Julie, who sought control of Raylee’s body and tried to exclude Janice.
• Janice’s grief is magnified by the insensitivity and self-centeredness of the abusers, and details of her last moments with Raylee are tearfully recounted.
• Quote: "I wrapped my arms around her...There was bruises in so many different stages all over her." (Janice, 78:31)

8. Enduring Trauma and Path to Healing

Timestamps: 99:56 – 161:41

• Janice describes enduring severe physical health issues in the wake of Raylee’s death, including heart failure, kidney failure, and repeated hospitalization—all attributed to profound grief and “broken heart syndrome.”
• After years of struggle, Janice shares finding a sliver of peace in the knowledge that Raylee’s ordeal ultimately freed other children from abuse, and that Raylee’s Law continues to be championed.
• Quote: "I felt myself step up for my three younger children...I have put everything back the way it needs to be." (Guest, 160:05)

9. Legacy: Raylee’s Law and Continuing Advocacy

Timestamps: 35:59 – 37:15; 149:34 – 161:41

• Efforts to pass “Raylee’s Law” in West Virginia are discussed. Legislator Delegate Fluharty and advocate Carrie Silverde are praised for their persistence.
• The hope is that sharing Raylee’s story will drive change and save lives, and that the light she brought remains undimmed through activism.
• Quote: "She [Raylee] is definitely making a difference...And I hope at one point Raylee's Law can stretch across the country." (Guest, 149:34)

---

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On systemic failure:

  • "So many times she just could have been saved." (Janice, 08:30)
  • "If you’re going to viciously beat a child that bad, you should not have the child in your custody." (Janice, 55:48)

• On Raylee’s spirit:

  • "When I close my eyes and think about her...her hair would always smell like sunshine on morning dew or honeysuckles." (Janice, 13:39)
  • "She went through a little chubby spell...she was so cute!" (Guest, 140:29)

• On the pain of drop-offs:

  • “She would get so scared, she would take her seatbelt off, and you could just feel the anxiety.” (Janice, 14:36)

• On the abuse’s impact on Raylee:

  • "They beat her down to a point of...she was just mute." (Janice, 43:12)
  • "After Raylee's body was released...my hand started going down her arms and she was bruised..." (Janice, 77:59)

• On the aftermath:

  • "When she [Raylee] was gone, I fell apart. It affected everything. Every aspect, every point in my life." (Janice, 156:51)
  • "He said, 'They can get out of this...but really what is it going to matter to you? Because all in all...there is no bringing her back.'" (Parsons via Guest, 147:03)
  • "I feel her with me...I've recently been able to find a little bit of peace and clarity..." (Guest, 153:06)

---

Lasting Messages and Calls to Action

• The episode is a powerful testament to the need for vigilance, reform, and accountability in child protection systems.
• Lane and Janice urge listeners to become involved in advocacy and share Raylee’s story to prevent future tragedies.
• Raylee’s legacy is being honored through ongoing legislative efforts and by the unwavering love of her mother.

---

Timeline of Significant Segments

| Time | Segment/Topic | |------------|---------------------------------------------------------------| | 05:54 | Janice describes splitting her life post-loss | | 06:18 | Failing institutions: CPS, the courts, and school system | | 13:34 | Loving memories of Raylee and the trauma of custody exchanges | | 25:22 | Domestic violence survived by Janice and its consequences | | 44:42 | Further details of abuse; belt marks and denial tactics | | 75:59 | The funeral: conflict, confrontation, and final goodbyes | | 99:56 | Physical health collapse after Raylee’s death | | 149:34 | Raylee’s Law and continuing impacts | | 153:06 | Coming to peace and determination to keep Raylee’s memory alive|

---

Conclusion

"Raylee Browning, Retold (Part 4)" is a searing, raw, and deeply moving account of maternal love, systemic betrayal, and the enduring fight for justice. Lane gives Janice the space to finally tell her truth—both as a mother and advocate—which is both a memorial to Raylee and a call to action for listeners to recognize, report, and fight child abuse.

If you are moved by Raylee’s story, support the push for Raylee’s Law and share this episode to amplify her voice. For more resources or to report child abuse, visit childhelp.org.

---

Transcript

[Chumba Casino Announcer]

How to have fun anytime, anywhere. Step 1 Go to chumbacasino.com chumbacasino.com Got it. Step 2 Collect your welcome Bonus.

[Janice Wriston]

Come to papa welcome bonus.

[Chumba Casino Announcer]

Step 3 Play hundreds of casino style games for free.

[Janice Wriston]

That's a lot of games, all for free.

[Chumba Casino Announcer]

Step 4 Unleash your excitement. Woo hoo. Chumba Chumba Casino has been delivering thrills for over a decade. So claim your free welcome bonus now and live the chumba life. Visit chumbacasino.com no purchase necessary.

[Commercial Voice (Hiba Botanica)]

VGW Group void where prohibited by law 21 + terms and conditions apply.

[Dan Morgan]

Lowe's knows how to get you ready for holiday hosting with up to 35% off select home decor and get up to 35% off select major appliances. Plus members get free delivery hallway, basic installation Parts and a two year Lowe's Protection Plan when you spend $2,500 or more on select LG major appliances. Valid through 10. One Member Offer excludes Massachusetts, Maryland, Wisconsin, New Jersey and Florida installed by independent contractors.

[Commercial Voice (Hiba Botanica)]

Exclusions apply.

[Dan Morgan]

See lowe's.com for more details.

[GoFundMe Announcer]

Imagine if today was the day your idea changed someone's life. Imagine if you could help someone pay for college, help your community build a new playground, or help a child make it to that dream. Competition with GoFundMe. It's all possible. GoFundMe is the world's number one fundraising platform, trusted by over 190 million people every week. Ordinary people meet their goals and do extraordinary things. Your ideas matter. GoFundMe isn't just for emergencies. Want to raise money for your kid's soccer team or raise funds for a small business, a creative project or event? GoFundMe helps you turn ideas into reality and help adds up. Fundraisers you start for someone else raise up to five times more. So think right now. Who could use your help? Change rarely comes from waiting. It comes from someone deciding, today I'll start. Don't wait for someone else to bring change today. Start your fundraiser in just [e-mail] that's gofundme.com to start your fundraiser. Gofundme.com this is a commercial message brought to you by GoFundMe.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

This podcast contains descriptions of violence against children in adult language and is not suitable for all audiences. Listener discretion is advised. Hi everyone and welcome to Suffer the Little Children, the podcast giving voices back to the victims of child abuse, murder and their families. I'm your host, Lane, and this is episode 191. Rayleigh Browning retold part four over the last three episodes I've told you the story of eight year old Rayleigh Browning, a little girl who died from abusive, neglectful, callous treatment in the home of her father, his girlfriend and the woman's sister. This has been the most comprehensive telling to date of Rayleigh's story, with details you haven't heard anywhere else. In this episode, you'll hear my conversation with Janice Wriston, Raley's only mommy who fought tooth and nail for Rayleigh and begged various government agencies for help that never came. Janice has been to hell and back since meeting Marty Browning Jr. In 2008. Now, six years after her daughter was cruelly ripped away, Janice is finally ready to tell the world her truth and Rayleigh's. This is the conclusion of the harrowing story of Rayleigh Browning retold. This episode is longer than most of mine and this is the edited version for this recording. Janice and I talked for over four hours and we could have kept going if it wasn't already past midnight. I'm blessed to call this wonderful human being a friend and honored to give her a platform to speak her truth at last. You'll hear our conversation in a minute, but first, if you heard the first three episodes of Raley's story, you already know about the little green mental performance shot I love so much. I've been using Magic Mind for several months now, and it's been a huge help in keeping me on track and focused when I need to be. You can buy it a case at a time if you want, but I wanted to keep my productivity flowing so I signed up for a subscription and I regret nothing. With a Magic Mind subscription, it gets delivered to your doorstep or mailbox every month with free shipping. As an introvert, I love that I never have to leave the house to get it. The cases come in two 15 bottles, so you can use one every couple of days and 30 bottles for productivity fiends like me who like to take one every day. If you try Magic Mind and you don't love it, they offer a 100% money back guarantee on your first purchase, no questions asked. And they don't even expect you to return any bottles you didn't use, it's easy to cancel your subscription too, with just a click in your online account or even a text message, although I can't imagine why you'd want to. Once you feel the benefits, now's the time to give it a try. You'll get up to 48% off regular price with my special link magicmind.com lane20. And use my code, lane20. That's M A G I C M I n d.com and code L, a I n e 20. Send me a message if you try it and love it. Now, here's my conversation with Rayleigh's mom, Janice, who I think you'll agree is the reason Rayleigh was such a sweet, kind, bright, tender little girl. This conversation ran the gamut of emotions from heartbreaking to heartwarming to inspiring. And I know you'll all love Janice as much as I do. One second, let me just get my brain together here.

[Janice Wriston]

That's what I've been chatting it to. So I was like, I need to get back into the Rayleigh vibe. Because due to the health, my kids, my husband, everything, I had to find a way to separate my life into two different aspects. Right?

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

You'd have to.

[Janice Wriston]

I don't know how the other others do it. I don't know how they do it.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

They might have to do the same thing.

[Janice Wriston]

There's the me that fights for Raley's Law, bringing her voice out, being her voice, giving all the attention and everything that I can, pouring into justice for Rayleigh on the page and keeping people into it, into the story, and listen to what she went through. It's so preventable. Like, this child disappears off the face of the earth. The school can't find her. Her mother can't find her. Everyone's going to CPS screaming about this family, even neighbors. Everyone that's around is saying, you know, there's something going on here. And there's me that's going to the school, like, hey, I'm looking for my daughter. And they're like, your daughter? Well, she hasn't been here since 2016. And it's what, you know, that was around December, and I broke down on Jeremiah. I'm like, what? What do we do? And he said, screw Judge England. We're going back to court. I don't care if he says, you can't come in, you're going back. Because it's the only way we're going to find her.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

That guy, man, I hope he doesn't sleep well any night.

[Janice Wriston]

I hope not. And his hope talking about, I can't say nothing about him because defamation of character. No, what I'm saying that he said is true and it did happen. And it's awful suspicious after she died. Her records from the court are just gone. Every hearing, all of it gone.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

I think I even said in the episode, they have to hold it for a certain amount of time. And if they're going to get rid of it, it has to be for a good reason.

[Janice Wriston]

And Jeremy's final divorce hearing was like, the beginning of 2012. They still have it.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

Yeah.

[Janice Wriston]

Now, my last hearing with that Courthouse was in 2016, and they're saying it's gone. They knew. Really? By name. They knew who she was. They knew the situation. They knew how serious this was.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

I seriously hope that it haunts them, every one of those people, every single day.

[Janice Wriston]

So many times she just could have been saved.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

Yes.

[Janice Wriston]

I mean, I just don't understand why women's resources, as many times as I went to them, why could women's resources not step up? Yeah. And there are two ladies that works with uplifting families who did try to get the attention of the dhhr. Because the entire time that I dealt with uplifting families, which is a branch off of cps, I had to deal with them a lot. And, you know, I like them and I trusted them. And they would speak on my behalf to cps, like, you know, she's looking for her daughter and nobody knows where her daughter is. They tried, and CPS just didn't. I would go in there, I would speak to a CPS representative, and they would say, well, let me get the supervisor. And supervisor, like, you know, come in 15 minutes later and pretty much just shut me down. They would come in there and they would say simple things like, apparently you've already called, so this is already under investigation. There's nothing else I can tell you or any information. And I'm like, well, did you go to the home? Well, I can't tell you about that. I said, what did you see? Or is she okay? Well, we're not allowed to speak about that on the people who's calling on behalf. You know, I'm like, I'm her mother, right? I want to know if she's okay. But I got so sick and tired of being looked at as the crazy ex who is trying to interfere in his life. And that was the vibe I got from women's resources and cps. And cps, Whenever they sent me to the police, they didn't say city or state. So I went to the city police first, and it was the city police that sent me to the state police. And I went in there and I talked to them and said, rayleigh has told me all these things that's going on. She's getting locked in a closet. She said that there's a bucket catching water. She said that the floors are hard and they're cold. She's telling me all these details and she's little at this point. She's probably about 4 years old. And all these things that she brings to my attention. Mom, they're making me call Julie mommy. And I don't want to because Julie's not my mommy. But if I don't, they smack me in my mouth. I was so mad. I took that to Cherie and I said, are you hitting her? And she said no. Did she say that I'm hitting her?

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

I bet she got in more trouble then after that. That's the problem.

[Janice Wriston]

Yes. Rayleigh was just so developed. I think we talked about this before, how she had like an old soul to her. She was ahead of herself with everything whenever it came to crawling or walking. As you said before, she never did crawl. Yeah, no, she had her little toes and her hands and spider walk, like you said. And I always look like a little monkey. And it wasn't long that she pulled herself up on the island on the side of it and took like three steps to me. And she was so young and she was just so smart.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

Yes.

[Janice Wriston]

I mean, at 4 years old, I have that picture saved. It was in our baby book of her writing her name for the first time. Perfect. That is at 4 years old.

[Commercial Voice (Hiba Botanica)]

If you're a label reader, this one's for you. Because your skin deserves more than empty promises. At hiba Botanica, every formula is made in house in small batches using organic, truly non toxic ingredients. Plastic free packaging, clean, effective botanicals and safe for all skin types. Even acne prone, no green washing, no filler, just skincare that's gentle, non comedogenic and designed with intention. Non toxic, plastic free, always safe for your skin. Shop [e-mail] that's excellent.

[GoFundMe Announcer]

Imagine if today was the day your idea changed someone's life. Imagine if you could help someone pay for college, help your community build a new playground or help a child make it to that dream. Competition with GoFundMe. It's all possible. GoFundMe is the world's number one fundraising platform, trusted by over 190 million people every week. Ordinary people meet their goals and do extraordinary things. Your ideas matter. GoFundMe isn't just for emergencies. Want to raise money for your kid's soccer team? Or raise funds for a small business? A creative project or event? GoFundMe helps you turn ideas into reality and help adds up. Fundraisers you start for someone else, raise up to five times more. So think right now. Who could use your help Change rarely comes from waiting. It comes from someone deciding, today I'll start. Don't wait for someone else to bring change today. Start your fundraiser in just [e-mail] that's gofundme.com to start your fundraiser. Gofundme.com this is a commercial message brought to you by GoFundMe.

[Janice Wriston]

She was something.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

She had a lot to cram into eight years. So she did.

[Janice Wriston]

When I close my eyes and think about her, I think about all the time that I had with her. She would crawl up on my lap, and I swear her hair would always smell like sunshine on morning dew or honeysuckles. It just had this bright, sweet smell. And she would hug me so tight. And I remember just hugging her and holding her. And she stayed on my lap a lot. There didn't have to be a movie on or anything going on. She would just get up there and she would just stay. And I could just rest my head on top of her little head. And I can still feel the feeling of my cheek on top of her head. And how many times she fell asleep right on my shoulder.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

She was a mom's girl for sure.

[Janice Wriston]

Yes, she was. She was. It was awful because of the pickups. This was horrible. She got to a point to where she knew this is the pickup, and she would get so scared, she would take her seatbelt off, and you could just feel the anxiety. Yeah. And she'd come up and crawl into the front seat, and she would get on my lap and just squeeze me and, mom, are you coming Friday, mom, will you be there Friday, Mom? I'll see you Friday, Right? Right, Mom. We started showing up to the pickup spot about 10 or 15 minutes early. I would stop by the McDonald's right there, get her something to eat, and she would crawl up and sit on my lap, and I would talk to her. And soon as they would pull in, she would tense up. And it's like she didn't even care that they were next to us. She would just cling on that much tighter. Shuri would roll her eyes in the back of her head. But like I said, every single time, if Rayleigh had a mark, bruise, bug bites, saying the things like, I have to call Julie mommy. All of the things that she told me and brought to my attention up always made sure, you know, my daughter better not come back over saying this thing about you guys. I will see him back in court again if it keeps going on. And I don't want to see her with any bruises, marks, scratches, Anything. And Sheree would blow it off. Like, oh, well, she was just playing outside. And, you know, the dogs are big and they're rough, and they knock her over, and, you know, she gets down on the floor and she's playing with them. And there was a scratch from all the way from her chin up to her ear. And I was furious. What is this? Well, one of the dog cages, she got too close to it, and the dog came running out of it, and it scratched her up the side of the face. They always had an excuse for everything. Everything. But then there came a point, you know, when Rayleigh was about 5, she started shutting down whenever I would ask her how her week was at her dad's. Yeah.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

Because she had it instilled in her that as soon as she comes back, of course she's not going to say anything. She's scared out of her mind.

[Janice Wriston]

I feel the guilt for the punishment that she would get. Well, you didn't know that, because I would approach them and I would push the facts of, if you do this to her, you know, just putting my foot down, basically. I'm not allowing you to do this. Right. This is not going to happen. And it's not okay by any means. And she is not to call Jolie mommy if she doesn't want to. And Sheree said she doesn't call Jolie Mommy. She calls Julie. Julie. She doesn't call her mommy.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

Oh, she made that up just twice, right?

[Janice Wriston]

Yeah, she's just making it up. Anytime that they would get CPS called on them, they automatically assumed it was us. So they would always call CPS back and we'd always have CPS at the house. Like, hello again.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

Just retaliatory. Exactly what people are worried about happening with the homeschooling bill.

[Janice Wriston]

Yeah. Yeah. It's like a frustrating fact. They're like, oh, what if somebody calls CPS just because they're mad at me? The times they called CPs on us was just out of this world. Like, every time the school would call, they would think it was us. And I found out later that the same complaints that was laid on us through cps, they also called the family of two of the other surviving children. They would call CPS on the father and have the exact same story as what was called on Rayleigh. So I guess they could keep their story straight. They would just tell them the same story.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

I'm glad they're not as clever as they thought they were.

[Janice Wriston]

Yeah. Like, after they were arrested and Marty having the nerve to go speak to A co worker. Not about how he was broken down about his daughter. Not about how this is mentally and physically killing him or bothering him. No. He spoke about how he would get out of this, how the state had no evidence.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

That was his worry. Yeah.

[Janice Wriston]

That was his worry about him going to jail. Which psychopath. Yeah.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

They honestly think that they're not guilty? They honestly think they didn't do anything wrong. It's ridiculous.

[Janice Wriston]

They beat it in their own minds that they didn't do anything wrong. Yep.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

It's crazy.

[Janice Wriston]

Like the week that Rayleigh died, I heard that Julie had went to a doctor's appointment because she had a cold. Are you serious?

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

Disgusting.

[Janice Wriston]

It's disgusting. Very. They had beaten Rayleigh to a point to where they knew they couldn't take her to a hospital. They knew they would be questioned because she was covered in bruises, knots, scabs, scratches, scars. She was a mess. Yeah. By the time her body had had enough.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

Right. And even if some of those bruises were like they were trying to say, you know, caused by the pneumonia, even if she still had other. Tons of other stuff that wasn't.

[Janice Wriston]

There was somebody from Halon Funeral Home who said that all those bruises probably came from the trip to Charleston. The. The medical.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

Yeah, it was. It was the EMTs. It was the CPR.

[Janice Wriston]

It was, yeah. That's basically what they were trying to say.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

I know that stuff can injure them.

[Janice Wriston]

But there's a difference. If your blood is flowing, somebody hits you and you have a monster bruise, that's because all the blood is flowing straight to that spot. But if you are already past, you're not going to bruise. And I told him that and he just looked at me like, oh yeah, I didn't know that.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

Can't fathom that. Oh, so you mean these people were beating her up.

[Janice Wriston]

Right? Like how long funeral home. They wanted so bad to do the service for Julie and Marty. I was just in shock. Like these people really want to do this. It was mind blowing.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

I'll pause here for a quick sponsor break.

[Commercial Voice (Hiba Botanica)]

If you're a label reader, this one's for you. Because your skin deserves more than empty promises. At HIBA Botanica, every formula is made in house in small batches using organic, truly non toxic ingredients, plastic free packaging, clean, effective botanicals and safe for all skin types, even acne prone. No green washing, no filler, just skincare. The gentle nose. Non comedogenic and designed with intention. Non toxic, plastic free. Always safe for your skin. Shop [e-mail] that's ex.

[GoFundMe Announcer]

Imagine if today was the day your idea changed someone's life. Imagine if you could help someone pay for college, help your community build a new playground or help a child make it to that dream competition with GoFundMe. It's all possible. GoFundMe is the world's number one fundraising platform, trusted by over 190 million people every week. Ordinary people meet their goals and do extraordinary things. Your ideas matter. GoFundMe isn't just for emergencies. Want to raise money for your kid's soccer team? Or raise funds for a small business? A creative project or event? GoFundMe helps you turn ideas into reality and help adds up. Fundraisers you start for someone else raise up to five times more. So think right now. Who could use your help? Change rarely comes from waiting. It comes from someone deciding, today I'll start. Don't wait for someone else to bring change today. Start your fundraiser in just [e-mail] that's gofundme.com to start your fundraiser. Gofundme.com this is a commercial message brought to you by GoFundMe.

[Commercial Voice (Hiba Botanica)]

If you've been thinking about getting serious with your money, like actually serious, now's the time. The Motley fool is offering new members 50% off their iconic stock recommendation service, Stock Advisor. This is the same service that's crushed the market with recommendations that have returned 1057% since inception. Compared the S&P 500's 180% over that same period. This isn't guesswork. The Motley fool has a track record of finding companies before they become household names. So if you want to invest smarter and you like saving money while doing it, go to fool.com listen to claim your 50% off discount off a one year term of stock advisor. Again, that's fool.com listen. Returns of 1,057% are from the Motley Fool's product Stock Advisor and measured against S&P 500 returns of 180% as of July 10, 2025. Past performance is not an indicator of future results. All investing involves a risk of individual investment. Results may vary.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

I can only imagine all the grieving parents that they were when they went in there, right?

[Janice Wriston]

I was in shock. Like I can't even remember my feet moving to take steps. I felt like Jeremy had carried me. And you just feel like all your blood is just gathered somewhere else in your body, maybe to your core. My hands were numb, my face was numb. And I can remember hearing Julie's voice in the lobby saying, I need to see my daughter. I haven't seen my daughter for 14 days. Is that someone else? Who is this? That was exactly what went through my head hearing that. All I heard was the voice. When it comes down to it, whenever Marty got with Jolie, I was hoping and praying that Julie was this good person who could maybe turn Marty into a good person, too. Yeah, they say sometimes a good woman can make a good man. Yes, good man can make a good woman. I mean, I've heard that before. And I was thinking that, you know, maybe if Julie was a good person and a positive vibe, maybe she could have made Marty this good person and lift him up and push him to strive to be better in life. And that's what I hoped for in the beginning, which I guess they probably had a rocky start, considering that he tried everything to get back with me.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

Oh, he never told her that. I guarantee it.

[Janice Wriston]

Oh, she probably never knew.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

Nope. And I can't wait until she hears the podcast.

[Janice Wriston]

Surprise. Like the whole beginning of dating her. She was a backup. Yep.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

Plan B.

[Janice Wriston]

Yes, she was his plan B. And I had taken these steps in my life to where I decided I wanted to be honest with myself as a person. I wasn't looking for a relationship because I wasn't sure how to build a relationship, because one, I'd never actually loved another man. The only love that I had ever known in my life was my kids. That's a certain love. But as for companionship love, I'd never felt it, so I wasn't looking for it. And yeah, I remember breaking it down to Marty. Like, I'm sorry I don't feel love for you. I'm not in love with you, and.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

It is your fault, sir.

[Janice Wriston]

Yeah, I love Braylee. That's the only reason I'm here, is I love her. And, you know, he tried everything. Just, he tried to act like he was this good person whenever we first got together. Like, you're not going to fool me like that, because I had seen the worst of you. Yeah, you have tried to cram me into an oven. You have beat me so bad in the back of my head. You have hit me so many times in the eye that I have scar tissue behind the right eye, meaning he's left handed and he punched me that many times. He had left so many marks around my neck. That's not love. You don't grab somebody by their hair and drag them into the house because they're outside screaming for help because they had just got beaten.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

No, he wanted to control you. That's what he loved.

[Janice Wriston]

Yeah. And, you know, he was same height as me, maybe an inch taller, and he was real stout and always proud about how strong he was. Yes, he was strong. He could pick me up and throw me into the wall and wow, what a great talent. Like I said, he cramming me in the oven. I'll never forget him bending me over backwards over the kitchen sink, trying to waterboard me. That was the worst. There was water going up my nose and I couldn't breathe. I was pregnant with Braylee at that time.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

And who saved you from that? That was one of his friends.

[Janice Wriston]

Steve saved me from most of them. But if Bill or John was there now. These are the strangers. Yes.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

Strange men. Very strange.

[Janice Wriston]

Yeah. The strangers. Which one of them he got a felony with years earlier, three years prior, they had robbed the coal mine or something. I don't know what they did. I had.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

But it wasn't violence.

[Janice Wriston]

No, it wasn't violence. And that was Bill. He was a single guy who really didn't care about much. To see a woman getting beaten. He wasn't going to have that. Bill was not going to have Marty putting his hands on me. He wasn't going to let it happen. And Bill was tall and stocky, strong himself. And as soon as Bill would come at him, Marty would back down like a little girl.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

Probably cry a little.

[Janice Wriston]

Yeah, crying is exactly right. Oh, my gosh, Bill, did you see what she did to me?

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

God.

[Janice Wriston]

Did you hear what she said?

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

Oh, she's so awful. It's her fault somehow, for sure.

[Janice Wriston]

Yeah. Bill would be like, man, if you put your hands on her like that again. Steve told him that. Bill told him that. John told him that all three of them, his friends, would tell him, stop hurting her.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

It's incredible. How in the hell did the judge think, this is fine? And you're not allowed to come in anymore. You're not allowed to complain about his violence, even though you lived it and you had a bazillion witnesses.

[Janice Wriston]

The judge told me, he said, how many DVP's did you get on Mr. Browning? I said, I didn't. I didn't even have a phone to get to. Yeah. And he said, okay, well, did you try to run to a neighbor's house?

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

He's a family court judge and he's not going to understand about how hard it is to leave an abusive relationship.

[Janice Wriston]

Right. It didn't matter what I told him. Marty had abused me mentally, physically, sexually. I could run from him and he was going to do? Drag me back? Yep. I can't tell you how many times I did try to leave him.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

And he threatened to kill you a lot.

[Janice Wriston]

Well, threatening to kill me was one thing, but whenever he said that he was going to kill me and Rayleigh. Yeah. It became a whole different level of fear. You know, I remember you mentioning in the previous recording, and I thought back the time whenever I was pregnant and he threw me down on the floor, and this is the one time I got it in good on him. I had taken the abuse for so long. I remember reaching my arm out where the table had knocked over, and there was one of those really big ashtrays, really thick glass. Oh, yeah. Yes. And I thought, I'm going to run. So I remember picking that up and swinging it. I don't even know where I hit him at, but it knocked him down for a second. And I remember running outside, getting right to the porch. I remember holding onto the banisters and screaming out for someone to help me. I was probably eight months pregnant. He dragged me back inside, threw me on the floor, kicked me in the face, kicked out my tooth, remembering just the sound, the crunch, the boot, the blood. It's a lot. I went to the hospital over that because I told him I think I broke my face. And I remember sitting at the hospital and the ER doctor saying, do you want me to call the police? And I wish with everything in me that I would have. He knew what had happened, of course.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

Yeah.

[Janice Wriston]

All I could think is, I can't, because if I do, he will kill me, and I'm going to be nine months pregnant and he's going to kill me. I can't get the police in here because eventually, after he goes to jail, he will get out, and there's no restraining order that's going to hold him back from coming after me. I can remember vividly as you were saying that on the podcast, I can remember, like, every step of what happened that day and how it happened and how I did have an opportunity to get police involved, and I didn't take it.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

It's not your fault. And I know it's impossible not to blame yourself after the fact. I totally get that. But hearing from the outside and also having been in, nothing as violent as that. But, you know, psychologically, yes, I understand. It's very scary and very hard. And you had the additional issue that you really believed that he would kill you.

[Janice Wriston]

Absolutely. I still do. I'm scared for whenever they get out. What if him and Julie decide they want to do Something worse. I don't know their frame of thinking. I don't understand it.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

I'm just so cynical about everything that they say do spend money on whatever. Because they proved themselves so many times to just be terrible people.

[Janice Wriston]

Monsters. I have never seen nothing like this.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

Every picture I've seen of Cherie, her eyes are just terrifying.

[Janice Wriston]

That's what the surviving child said as well. That she was a monster and she will never forgive her.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

Good.

[Janice Wriston]

And she does not want her back in her life.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

Okay.

[Janice Wriston]

And the surviving child actually at drop offs. Wasn't allowed to lift my way. Wasn't allowed to speak to me.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

You can't exist because then Raelee has a mom already.

[Janice Wriston]

This specific child wasn't even allowed to acknowledge me. She was so pretty. Like I would just see her when I picked up Rayleigh. And she'd be in the front seat and I'd say, hi, hi, I'm Rayleigh's mom. And she wasn't allowed to look my way. And then Cherie said she's got some problems with speaking to people. Strangers sometimes. And excuses for everything. Always excuses. And I tell you this. At the courthouse after she had testified and after everything. I believe it was during sentencing. I had seen her a few times and all I could think is, I want to hug her. I was standing at the bottom of the stairs and she came out and she walked down. She looked at me and she said, I know you're really's mom. You look just like Rayleigh. I railway look just like you. Can I hug you? And she hugged me and she squeezed me and she said. She laid her head on my shoulder and she said, I feel like I'm hugging. Really? And I had a. Like a chill go through me because I said the same thing. I feel like I'm hugging Riley. And it felt like she was just there in that moment when we embraced.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

I think she was.

[Janice Wriston]

I believe that 100%. She was there in that moment.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

Yeah.

[Janice Wriston]

But no, there was nothing wrong with that child. She is beautiful, she's smart. There was nothing wrong with her. Nothing of what Sherry had said. And the other children? The same. I try to think of the positive of the aftermath at her. Thinking about Raleigh dying gave these three children a chance to live a normal.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

Life and have relationships with their fathers if they wanted it.

[Guest (Friend or Supporter of Janice)]

Right.

[Janice Wriston]

They were not allowed to have normal lives. There's so much they weren't allowed to do. And all they were taught at the time of being in that house is to lie and avoiding people. It's a shame because One of the surviving children looks like she's just blossomed. I just want to reach into a picture and just hug her. Actually, her and her brother, I just want to grab them and hug them both.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

They're all just so innocent. They had nothing to do with it, and they were just doing what they were told. Anything that they did or anything they lied about, it's not like they wanted to. There was a culture of fear in that house.

[Janice Wriston]

Yes. And I just try to see through the aftermath of what can come from this. And it gave three innocent children a chance to live a normal life. Raley's Law. Delicate, fluharty. Pushing with all his heart on Raley's Law. And it can save so many lives.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

Yes.

[Guest (Friend or Supporter of Janice)]

And I love that delicate flu. Hardy took that picture of Raley.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

Yes.

[Guest (Friend or Supporter of Janice)]

And the passion in his voice. Rayleigh has touched him, and he has felt her spirit, and he has felt the innocence that was stolen.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

That's why I had to play the whole thing. I think it was three or four minutes, but he really did a great job. And that's just one time he's gone to bat. He has done that how many times since 2019?

[Guest (Friend or Supporter of Janice)]

Yes, he has. And he's done it nonstop. And he hasn't given up. And he keeps going with it. And it's like they keep on pushing him back and shutting him down and trying to just make him go away. And he doesn't go away. He comes back, and he comes back stronger.

[Janice Wriston]

Carrie Silverde being a speaker for that as well, she. She pushes hard for that.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

She's an angel on earth, I think.

[Guest (Friend or Supporter of Janice)]

Yes.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

She has my undying respect, that woman.

[Janice Wriston]

Yes, Mine as well.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

If you see her again, please give her a hug for me. I honestly, absolutely, like, her testimony just had me tied in knots. And it wasn't even video. It was just what I was reading. But I could hear her saying these things. She felt so strongly about your baby.

[Janice Wriston]

Yes, she did. And I thought about. And this is in 2014. So Rayleigh was 4. Rayleigh looked at the gym teacher celebrity and said, my mommy's having another baby, which means she doesn't want me anymore. Can you be my mom? And I thought, oh, my gosh, what did they tell her right while I was pregnant? That they tell her that whenever I had the baby that she would be discarded or something? Like, did they try to make really believe that that was the end for her seeing her mommy? If I had a child.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

Time for another word from my sponsors.

[Chumba Casino Announcer]

How to have fun anytime, anywhere. Step one, go to chumbacasino.com chumbacasino.com Got it. Step two collect your welcome bonus.

[Janice Wriston]

Come to papa. Welcome bonus.

[Chumba Casino Announcer]

Step 3 Play hundreds of casino style games for free.

[Janice Wriston]

That's a lot of games, all for free.

[Chumba Casino Announcer]

Step 4 Unleash your excitement. Woo hoo. Chumba Casino has been delivering thrills for over a decade. So claim your free welcome bonus now and live the chumba life. Visit chumbacasino.com no purchase necessary vgw group.

[Commercial Voice (Hiba Botanica)]

Void we're prohibited by law 21 + terms and conditions apply.

[GoFundMe Announcer]

Imagine if today was the day your idea changed someone's life. Imagine if you could help someone pay for college, help your community build a new playground. Or help a child make it to that dream competition with GoFundMe. It's all possible. GoFundMe is the world's number one fundraising platform, trusted by over 190 million people every week. Ordinary people meet their goals and do extraordinary things. Your ideas matter. GoFundMe isn't just for emergencies. Want to raise money for your kid's soccer team? Or raise funds for a small business? A creative project or event? GoFundMe helps you turn ideas into reality and help adds up. Fundraisers you start for someone else raise up to five times more. So think right now. Who could use your help? Change rarely comes from waiting. It comes from someone deciding. Today I'll start. Don't wait for someone else to bring change today. Start your fundraiser in just [e-mail] that's gofundme.com to start your fundraiser. Gofundme.com this is a commercial message brought to you by GoFundMe.

[Podcast Host Interviewing Dan Morgan]

I've got Dan Morgan here on the pod. Say hi, Dan.

[Dan Morgan]

Hey, how's it going today?

[Podcast Host Interviewing Dan Morgan]

It's going good, man. Tell us who you are and what you do.

[Dan Morgan]

I'm Dan Morgan. I'm an attorney and a managing partner at Morgan and Morgan, which is America's largest injury law firm.

[Podcast Host Interviewing Dan Morgan]

That's pretty awesome. I think I saw a billboard of yours recently that said 20 billion won. 20 billion is an insane number.

[Dan Morgan]

Yeah, 20 billion recovered. It's actually, I think somewhere north. Probably closer to 22, 23 after this year. And each year we get bigger and badder and our army grows. So the number will hopefully keep getting bigger and bigger as time goes on.

[Podcast Host Interviewing Dan Morgan]

Awesome. So how does someone get in contact with Morgan and Morgan? What would I do if I got into an accident?

[Dan Morgan]

Probably the easiest way is dialing pound law. That's £529 from your cell Phone. We are always open or our call center is always waiting to take your call. 247 365.

[Guest (Friend or Supporter of Janice)]

Wow.

[Podcast Host Interviewing Dan Morgan]

Dan Morgan from Morgan and Morgan, America's large injury law firm. Thanks for coming by the show.

[Dan Morgan]

Thanks for having me. Visit forthepeople.com for an office near.

[Janice Wriston]

And Ms. Silverde.

[Guest (Friend or Supporter of Janice)]

I could tell how close she was to my baby. I could see it. She loved her.

[Janice Wriston]

Yes.

[Guest (Friend or Supporter of Janice)]

And she said, janice, I didn't even know about you, but, gosh, I loved your daughter. I didn't know the situation with you. I know that she would come back from weekends and she would always be talking about what she did at mommy's house, everything that she would do with her baby sister. She would always talk about her mommy. And then there for a little while that she had stopped. And she said, I got worried. And I remember telling Anthony, I wish that I could just take her in and adopt her, but I don't know if that was during the time period of Jace was in the hospital. I don't know what time period it was. I know that whenever Jace came home, I went September, October and half of November without seeing her because they said that she was sick and throwing up and a high fever every single weekend. Till finally Jeremy was like, no, no, no, no, she's not sick every weekend. They are doing this to you, Janice. I was just crying so hard. Just doubled over crying. I have to see my baby. I have to see her. And he said, I'm going to go get her. We did. We went and got her and that she was just fine. She was so excited to come home.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

You got a good one.

[Guest (Friend or Supporter of Janice)]

Yes, I do have a good one. And proud to say that I do know what soulmate is now. I did find mine, and it was built on honesty. And he was good to Rayleigh, and I'm happy that she loved him and I'm happy that, you know, he got to know her and she got to know him and all my loves know each other.

[Janice Wriston]

Really loved Miss Celebrity. You know, you always ask your children, what do you want to be whenever you grow up? You know, as soon as I can talk, you want to see what their ideas are? Where are you leading? What do you want to do? Yeah. Riley used to always say, well, I'm going to be just like you, mom. I'm going to be just like you, mom. I'm going to have a baby and I'm going to love her and I'll have another baby, and then my other baby will get to hold that baby. And she. She would Just ramble on and on and on. She. She was adorable. She was just free speaker and just so innocent. They had stolen so much from her. They beat her down to a point of. She was just mute. Whenever, if I would say anything about her dad, Jolie, Cheree, their house, going over there, any other surviving children in anything like that, she would just shut down and put her head down and she didn't want to talk anymore. A lot of people don't know this. When she was five years old, she spent nearly that entire summer with us. Oh, my God, it was the best summer ever. Because we would be like, will you call Sheree and ask her if I can stay? And I would be like, yeah, I'll call her. And I'd be like, well, sure, she wants to stay. And, you know, the other kids are here and I don't mind. And I would. I would love for her to stay as long as she can. And Sheree would be like, yeah, sure, that's fine. And it was just amazing. Like, I could literally just call Sheree and she's like, okay. Like, there was no, well, let me go ask her dad or let me ask Julie or see what they think. No, when she was five, Sheree was allowed to say, yeah, you can keep her.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

Well, she's the only one who probably did any of the caring for the kids. Well, I say caring very loosely.

[Janice Wriston]

Caring. Yeah, I get it. Mentally. Training, I guess.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

Yeah, Warping.

[Janice Wriston]

Right. She spent that summer, and I think that was probably the best summer of her life. But it seemed as soon as she went back and as soon as school started, I believe that's whenever the femur was broken, I did go up and over the edge. I was mad. I was furious.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

Yeah, because you weren't wrong.

[Janice Wriston]

I wanted a reason. Why is her femur broken? She kicked the wall. No, really, I want the reason. Why is her femur broken? She kicked the wall. Ask her. I don't care what she says.

[GoFundMe Announcer]

Ask her.

[Janice Wriston]

She could tell me that she was walking and it broke. I'm not going to believe it. What happened? Marty was there. This is one of the very few times that Marty showed up. And that's the reason that Marty did show up. Because this time Rayleigh had a broken bone. And. And Sheree knew that I was going to say something and I wasn't going to hold back. So this was one of the times that Marty was actually there. He gets out and he has the paperwork. It's like she looks towards the vehicle. He gets out and he's like, here's the paperwork. And she did kick the wall, and it was hard enough to break the femur. I don't believe this. And they knew I didn't believe it whenever I left. So the next CPS call in, of course, reflected back on me. Every time that they would be calling CPS on me, they weren't just punishing me. Right. They were punishing me, my husband, who has nothing to do with whatever their issues are. They don't know him. All they know is he's a good man.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

That's probably why they wanted to punish him, too.

[Janice Wriston]

That was probably enough to drive them crazy, was the fact that Janice is with a good man.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

And at some point, they went from Raeley as more of a burden. And that's why she was allowed to stay with you whenever she wanted.

[Guest (Friend or Supporter of Janice)]

Right.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

To we need to punish Janice.

[Janice Wriston]

Right.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

And that's when everything went downhill.

[Janice Wriston]

Well, they really wanted to punish me over the broken leg. Whenever her leg got better, they paid me back with the CPS coming to the house and the police bringing, you know, the emergency protection order. And I'm like, well, you know, what is it this time, Andy? And he's like, well, Janice, they're saying that Jeremy beat her with a belt. And I don't even. Where do they come up with this? And at this point, I didn't believe none of it, that there is no belt there. There's nothing. They're just saying this. So I went up to CPS and I'll talk to the CPS worker. I said, this is a lie. They are just trying to keep her from me because I got mad about the broken femur and they're just trying to use this and save it. My husband did it. And my husband wasn't even home over the weekend, so there's no way he could have done it. And as I'm talking, she's pulling out an iPad. She flips this iPad over to me and I'm looking at these bell marks were so deep that she was cut and bleeding and they were wide upper. They beat her.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

Sheree really lost control and she knew they had to blame it on someone.

[Janice Wriston]

Yeah, they said that they didn't even see these marks because it wasn't even claimed that these belt marks happen until they get her ready to go to school on Monday. And I'm not sure if it was the teachers that recognized the belt marks. I think that's what it was. The teachers seen the belt marks because Rayleigh said her back was hurt.

[Guest (Friend or Supporter of Janice)]

And so the teachers, of course, you.

[Janice Wriston]

Know, blame it on Marty and shrewing them. They're like, oh, we didn't even see him. Oh, my gosh, what happened? Rayleigh? And Rayleigh was saying, jeremy hit me five times with the belt for waking up the baby.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

Like she was reciting it from a script.

[Janice Wriston]

Exactly. And then they asked again, what happened? Jeremy hit me five times on the back for waking the baby. Well, okay. So they asked my husband when they were questioning him at the police department, will you take a lie detector test? And he said, yes, I'll take a lie detector test. I'll do it whenever you want. And they're like, how's Wednesday? He's like, anytime you want. So they ended up calling the following Monday, and we both went in. I couldn't believe this. They called me back first. I got the lie detector test, and.

[Guest (Friend or Supporter of Janice)]

I didn't even know I had it coming.

[Janice Wriston]

Oh, wow. And then, yeah, and they were asking me things like, did you see Jeremy hit Rayleigh with a belt? And I'm like, jeremy wasn't even around her. I got her ready to go to the Halloween party with my mom. And when I got her ready and I put her dress on, I can assure you her back was as normal and perfect skin as can be. She was fine. I got her ready to go. That was on Saturday evening. I called her the next morning to talk to her about the party. And my mother is the one who took her back to the dropping off point. But see, Jeremy was the one who had went and picked her up. And whenever she got picked up that weekend, he went and picked her up. And they swing about Tom's and got ice cream before they came off. And she was just gig and happy, bubbly, giggly, excited to go to Nina's the next day. And she went to the dance. And then all of a sudden on Monday morning, there's these horrifying marks, like.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

She got in trouble for enjoying herself like a nightmare.

[Janice Wriston]

And yes, in my mind, I thought, what if she went back and said, I got to go to the Halloween party, and we had fun and Jeremy picked me up, we got to go get ice cream. And I mean, what if her stories were something like that? And then she got whipped and then she got told, you better say this or you're getting whipped again. But they had no idea what had happened at our house that weekend. They had no idea that Jeremy wasn't around. They had no idea that Nina is the only one who seen her from Saturday night until Sunday. Right. And then they didn't tell anybody. They just took her back in the room for questioning and whenever they took her back in, she said, jeremy hit me five times with a belt for waking the baby.

[Commercial Voice (Hiba Botanica)]

If you're a label reader, this one's for you. Because your skin deserves more than empty promises. At hiba Botanica, every formula is made in house in small batches using organic, truly non toxic ingredients. Plastic free packaging, clean, effective botanicals and safe for all skin types. Even acne prone, no green washing, no filler, just skin care. The gentle non comedogenic and designed with intention non toxic plastic free, always safe for your skin. Shop online@hiba botanica.com that's ex imagine if.

[GoFundMe Announcer]

Today was the day your idea changed someone's life. Imagine if you could help someone pay for college, help your community build a new playground or help a child make it to that dream competition with GoFundMe. It's all possible. GoFundMe is the world's number one fundraising platform, trusted by over 190 million people. Every week. Ordinary people meet their goals and do extraordinary things. Your ideas matter. GoFundMe isn't just for emergencies. Want to raise money for your kid's soccer team? Or raise funds for a small business, a creative project or event? GoFundMe helps you turn ideas into reality and help adds up. Fundraisers you start for someone else, raise up to five times more. So think right now. Who could use your help? Change rarely comes from waiting. It comes from someone deciding, today I'll start. Don't wait for someone else to bring change today. Start your fundraiser in just [e-mail] that's gofundme.com to start your fundraiser. Gofundme.com this is a commercial message brought to you by GoFundMe.

[Janice Wriston]

And I said, okay, Rayleigh, we found out that you hadn't seen Jeremy that much that weekend, but you went to your Nina's house to go to a party and there's pictures of you smiling. So you had a good time at the party, didn't you and she. Yes. How did Jeremy whip you with the belt? He climbed up the soda Nina's house into the window upstairs. Whipped me five times for waking the baby. That was her next story. And then, you know, I guess after Marty, Jolie and Sheree found out that that took place, the story changed to, nima hit me five times with the belt.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

Oh my God.

[Janice Wriston]

Oh. They made her say, Nina hit me five times with a purple belt. So they made her go to a collar and then skip to my Mother.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

Yeah.

[Janice Wriston]

And she wouldn't say any other story. But after enough of the chaos, the judge was like, we're just going to drop this. This is completely insane. Mr. Wriston did not do this. Ms. Wriston did not do this. We don't know where these belt marks came from, so we're just going to drop this.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

Oh, my gosh.

[Janice Wriston]

And he dropped it. He just dropped it.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

The fact is that someone beat this child with a belt and we're. We're going to just forget about it because we don't know who.

[Janice Wriston]

They asked Marty to take a lie detector test and he said he couldn't because he had blood sugar problems.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

Yep. Because that affects it for sure.

[Janice Wriston]

Exactly. That's why he wasn't Rayleigh's father. Because he had blood sugar problems. Yeah. Because I couldn't get pregnant.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

Because of his diabetes. Yes.

[Janice Wriston]

Right. Yeah. And exactly like why he couldn't answer the questions during the interview after she had been killed.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

Oh, his diabetic.

[Janice Wriston]

During. Yeah. Oh, I'm. My diabetes is getting to me. I'm gonna have to go to the hospital. The police, whenever he did do that during the interview, they called every hospital locally and every clinic, and they called to see if Marty Browning had been in. And no, never went. But anyways, while all that happened, the judge just lets it go. About a couple weeks later, we meet at the drop off and Cherise says, oh, my gosh, I didn't realize during this whole time about belt marks. I seen Rayleigh sitting on the porch. She was rocking in the rocking chair and smacking her back with the back of the rocking chair. And I bet you anything that that's where those stripes came from.

[Guest (Friend or Supporter of Janice)]

No.

[Janice Wriston]

I got to the point where I wouldn't even speak to Sheree anymore. I didn't want to talk to her. I was there for my daughter. My daughter only. I'm not going to talk to you. I was mad. I was done with it. And these. No, there's no rocking chair. That's going to leave diagonal belt slashes. Right.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

And so she's bleeding.

[Janice Wriston]

Yes. These were all the way from the top of her shoulders down to her butt.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

She really lost control that time. I don't think she did that very often. So something really pissed her off.

[Janice Wriston]

That should have been the end of it. Yes, that should have been the end of it. If you're going to viciously be a child that bad, you should not have the child in your custody. Especially whenever the other parent is screaming that they're going to end up killing her.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

And it's not even her child.

[Janice Wriston]

I was fighting for custody, fighting for custody when she came to me February 2016. And she said, mom, Daddy hurt my secrets my bottom. She had just got in the bath. I got her out, wrapped her up in a towel and I called clinic. It was a Friday and the clinic closed at 5. I called ahead to the clinic and it was 4:45. I said, I'm bringing my daughter here and I don't know if you guys are crowded, but my daughter is saying that her father has her her bottom. And I want to bring my daughter in to be checked. And they said, please, yes, go ahead, bring her. And when I brought her, they sent everybody out. They locked the doors until I pulled in. I came in and brought Riley. And it was hard to even talk. All I could say is her dad hurt her button and can you please tell me what happened? She's not talking a lot and telling me you wouldn't tell me. I felt like I messed that up. She quit confiding in me because I took it back to them because I was so angry. And then she got punished for it.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

But you were also trying to make it stop. She did not blame you for that, I'm sure of it. It's just that she learned her lesson about telling anyone she was tore at.

[Guest (Friend or Supporter of Janice)]

Her one o', clock, ten o' clock.

[Janice Wriston]

And one o' clock ripped. They called the police. The police came, did a report, took Rayleigh in a room and talked to her by herself. So there was a full report on what Rayleigh said and what I said and what the doctor had said and really was hungry and Jaylen was screaming at this point. She was about a year and a half to both of them, just wanted to go home. And the officer mentioned, I remember him saying, did you think maybe to take her to cmc? And I thought no, after what I just seen go on in there and really looking at me like she did. All the facts is in this paperwork. Everything is right here. Everything she told you happened, happened. Everything that she told me that happened, happened. And everything she told the doctor what happened happened with three statements here. That's enough. I'm not tormenting her, especially after everything they did to her at the clinic. We were there for hours and I came home and brought and got the emergency protective order. And actually I'd never seen Rayleigh so.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

Relieved because she didn't have to go back.

[Janice Wriston]

Because she didn't have to go back. Because when Sunday came, she said, do I have to go back? I said, if I can stop it. Baby, you never have to go back. Yeah, because that was my intentions and that was my plans. I didn't want her to ever go back around him after that. So after she'd been with us for a couple weeks, she said, mommy, I got to tell you something. Then I said, what is it, baby? She said, I couldn't tell you at the time because Shereen, Julie and daddy would have gotten mad that Sheree is the one who beat me with the belt. It wasn't that, if that's what you thought. And it kind of made me think I did think it was her dad. But how did she know that I thought it was him?

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

Right.

[Janice Wriston]

I tried my best not to talk about any of them around her because.

[Guest (Friend or Supporter of Janice)]

It hurt her and bothered her.

[Janice Wriston]

I only talked about them if I necessarily had to talk to her about them. Especially after her trust had become a little iffy. Those are the things that I get mad over right now with Rayleigh's younger siblings, Jaylen, Jason, Jaden. They have no bruises on them and they roughhouse around the house all the time. Yeah, I got these two young boys, 7 and 8, that's always pushing and shoving and give me that and I want that. And mom, it ain't covered in bruises. Between all three of them, there isn't a bruise on nobody that really would be covered. Just covered. And it just never made sense to me. I say it didn't make sense to me, but yet it all made sense to me.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

Now for another quick sponsor break.

[Commercial Voice (Hiba Botanica)]

If you're a label reader, this one's for you. Because your skin deserves more than empty promises. At HIBA Botanica, every formula is made in house in small batches using organic, truly non toxic ingredients. Plastic free packaging, clean, effective botanicals and safe for all skin types, even acne prone. No green washing, no filler, just skincare that gentle non co comedogenic and designed with intention. HEBA Botanica Non toxic plastic free always safe for your skin. Shop online@hiba botanica.com. that's eggs.

[Podcast Host Interviewing Dan Morgan]

I've got Dan Morgan here on the pod. Say hi Dan.

[Dan Morgan]

Hey, how's it going today?

[Podcast Host Interviewing Dan Morgan]

It's going good, man. Tell us who you are and what you do.

[Dan Morgan]

I'm Dan Morgan. I'm an attorney and a managing partner at Morgan and Morgan, which is America's largest injury law firm.

[Podcast Host Interviewing Dan Morgan]

That's pretty, pretty awesome. I think I saw a billboard of yours recently. It said 20 billion one. 20 billion is an insane number.

[Dan Morgan]

Yeah, 20 billion recovered. It's actually, I think somewhere north probably closer to 22, 23 after this year. And each year we get bigger and badder and our army grows. So the number will hopefully keep getting bigger and bigger as time goes on.

[Podcast Host Interviewing Dan Morgan]

Awesome. So how does someone get in contact with Morgan and Morgan, what would I do if I got into an accident?

[Dan Morgan]

Probably the easiest way is dialing pound law. That's £529 from your cell phone. We are always open. Our call center is always waiting to take your call. 247 365.

[Guest (Friend or Supporter of Janice)]

Wow.

[Podcast Host Interviewing Dan Morgan]

Dan Morgan from Morgan and Morgan, America's largest injury law firm. Thanks for coming by the show.

[Dan Morgan]

Thanks for having me. Visit forthepeople.com for an office near you.

[Janice Wriston]

I have to fight daily with the fact that I didn't get away from him sooner.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

That's also not your fault.

[Janice Wriston]

I search through my mind and try to think what I could have done different. She was born with two protectors. Two. She had me. She had her father. These are the two that was to keep her living, breathing, and happy. This was the two people that was supposed to give her a life. And I felt I got failed because I couldn't protect her from him.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

You tried. The problem was not you.

[Janice Wriston]

He was a monster.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

The problem was the judge that you had and Marty himself. And then he brought in these other evil beings. Let's call them that. Yeah.

[Janice Wriston]

They were like. Whenever I took Jason for heart surgery and they filmed two hairline fractures from Jalen falling in the play pin on him and took him to the hospital. And they said that the time of these breaks looked to be in the last week, June into July. And I'll show them this video. And they're like, yeah, right there. You can see the way that he's breathing. I said, his sister felt in a play pian on top of him. And the doctor was like, oh, okay. He said, you know, there's child abuse cases where the kid's ribs are broken, but not like this. He said, this child doesn't have a bruise on him. He's not an abused child. But I do have to ask you to sign the papers to do the child abuse test. And I said, of course. And in this child abuse test, what they do is they check the brain to make sure that never been like, shook or something. They check the eyes as well. They check inside their eyes to make sure there's never been any retinal detachments. This. This sounds awful.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

I've heard it all.

[Janice Wriston]

I know they ran Jace through all of these tests and they said if Jace is an Abused child, We cannot perform the surgery. And I said, well, Jace is not an abused child. So I feel free and clear with you guys doing this test. So they did all of the testing, and I wanted to call and talk to Rayleigh because I was going to be delayed at the hospital. And I talked to her and said, baby, I'm not going to make it to you this Friday. Jason's heart surgery is going to be held up. She's like, what's wrong, mom? What's wrong? And I'm like, well, found two fractures on his ribs. He was laying in his playpen, and Jalen jumped in, and she's like, oh, no. And, you know, just talking to her and, yeah, I was on speakerphone. I just wasn't paying attention because in my world of believing that most people are good people is incorrect. Not most people are good people, but they did the child abuse assessment on him, and he came back clean and clear. And the doctor told me, don't worry. You have zero worries about anything. Because I cleared all of this up with the doctor who had his concerns with these breaks. So these are hairline fractures, and they look like something from a very quick impact. Nothing like child abuse or shaken baby or anything like that. He said, your son's going to be okay. We're going to continue with the surgery. And they did the surgery. I was sitting there asleep with my hand reached in on top of his chest, just fell up his breathing. A CPS worker comes in. She's like, I'm sorry, but you can't be here. What do you mean I can't be here? She said, are you here alone? I said, well, my mom's here. And she's like, your mom has to be in the room with you if you're going to be in here to see your son. And the nursing staff has already been made aware. And I'm like, what is going on? And, you know, Jeremy traveled up that evening, and I told her I'd be right back, and I left, and I came back and she was gone. And. And I asked the lady who was there, I was like, where did she go? And she said, I don't know. She said she had what she had, and she left. And then next thing I know, Jeremy's on his way up, and he gets there, and I tell him about the whole thing, and I'm like, this is just so weird. I don't even know why they were here. The doctor already cleared him for everything. And Jeremy was like, I don't know. We got the phone Call that we were not allowed to be around our children. We had Jaylen with us and they're like, well, you need to leave the hospital or you will be escorted out. They took us into this room. I had only been there with him for like one day. After his heart surgery, I collapsed. Jeremy held me up. And I don't know how he did it.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

Yeah, he's an amazing man.

[Janice Wriston]

I don't know how he does it because I couldn't hold it together knowing that I couldn't be in the hospital with my child. Just had open heart surgery. Yeah. And we stayed up there for two more days just so that we could get updates on how he was doing. I could call and ask for updates. And then they put a stop to that. We even told the CPS worker that we would be up there a couple more days. And she said, that's fine. Just bring Jaylen when you're ready. So we had to come all the way, three hour drive from Morgantown knowing that this is the last drive we're taking with our little girl for the next few months. And they're telling us this whole time, this will be over in a couple of weeks. I called this doctor on our way back and I'm like you said, everything was fine and it's not. And he said, I'll do up a statement and I'll send it to your email. You just give it to the CPS workers. Well, I did that and I gave it to them. And I went in there and broke down in their office. I couldn't take Jalen inside, and they still demanded that I did. And I kept. And Jeremy took her little hand and watched through the window as he had. Jay went over and he came out and he broke for a minute. Yeah. Not just held him while he held me. And. And we didn't get to see them for all of August, which is Jason Jalen's birthdays for October. It wasn't until November that we were allowed to see them again. Julian, she was getting back at me. And Marty, they. They definitely cut as deep as they could with that. They did.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

And it doesn't make sense that you did have. You had Jacob, right?

[Janice Wriston]

Yeah. You know, we did the work with the Uplifting Families and Uplifting Families workers. You know, I met like four of them and they're all like, you guys aren't typical. What are you guys in us for? Y' all pass all your drug screens and a CPS worker doesn't even know why you don't have your kids. Like, what Is this. And I explained to him that it was pretty much my ex getting back at me. And he hit me where it hurt. I didn't know that Julie was working at the juvenile correction center. And I didn't know that she had so much interaction with cps. She had so much interaction with Nicholas County, Fayette county, all surrounding counties while working for the juvenile detention center. So she had updates on what was going on at our pace, things that.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

She absolutely shouldn't have.

[Janice Wriston]

Yes. So when she found out that our kids were coming home, it was a strike to her. So they took Rayleigh, the surviving children, and they left and went to a campground. They didn't pay their rent on the place they were staying, and they went to a campground until they could find a place to rent, just so that I couldn't find them. After the kids came home, it happened so fast because normally the process and the corporate court, there's almost always charges pressed. There's no parent walking out of there without getting charges. But we were the first in 20 years to have our entire case dismissed. The entire thing. So for 10 months, we suffered. Our children suffered. And it was dismissed because of the video on my phone and the doctor's testimony that he gave me in the beginning. They had had that since the beginning. So, yeah, all of the claims that were laid against us was just dissolved. Like it never happened. And to this day, there's no record it ever happened. But one day I'm going to tell my kids that it did happen.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

And it wasn't your fault in the least.

[Janice Wriston]

No, not at all. And I didn't see it coming. After the doctor had told me, no, he's fine. Everything's fine. The people from uplifting families, they have become very good friends. And believe it or not, the new CPS worker that came in on the case is like, what is this? This isn't right. Like, this is not typical.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

There are good people who work for cps. We just don't see them often enough.

[Janice Wriston]

Yes. Jessica was someone who knew what she was doing and she knew that when she came into our case. This is phony. There is something wrong with this. These people are not bad people, I can tell you. Uplifting families, they do their job and they do it very well. The contracting company off of cps, because they will show up at your door, they will pick you up, they will take you for drug screens whenever they want to. They are there to check in on you and make sure you're doing everything correct. And after a month of that, I had Become friends with them because I'd spent so much time with them. So we ended up taking a polygraph on that, too. And that's what helped getting the kids home sooner, too. It usually takes six months to place children back into the home. It took six weeks for us, a month and a half, and the kids were home. That is why Marty, Jolie, and Sheree ended up at a campground. I would love if Nicholas county would just as soon as they get released, Nicholas county, pick it up and be like, wait a minute, you did this in our county.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

By the way, there's no criminal statute of limitations on felonies in West Virginia, so they could still face child abuse charges. If you get to the prosecutor in Nicholas county, and God, I hope they.

[Janice Wriston]

Will, I would love to just bring it to their attention. I couldn't sue cps, which I don't care about a lawsuit. What I care about is them getting out. And they are child abusers. They are monsters. They are psychopaths. And before he even got with her, he beat on me whenever I was pregnant with the baby that he killed.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

You definitely need whatever protection you can get against him. If that means getting him back into prison, great. Whatever it takes.

[Janice Wriston]

Something I was really thinking about, it would be really nice for them to pay for what they did with Facebook fraud.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

Oh, that too. Yeah. I wonder about that.

[Janice Wriston]

They didn't pay for anything at the funeral. They took that money and they went on vacation. Every bit at the funeral. All of it. And it was 11,800 something. All of it was paid for and donated from everyone who came in. People from the funeral home company, from my family. A lot of my family paid for it. And the church I came from growing up donated a lot. I was left with eleven hundred dollars to pay, so that's not that bad. But they ended up getting 900 and some off of GoFundMe and paid nothing to the funeral home. And then go and get married and take pictures of their trip to Florida and how she was crowned Miss West Virginia Spectacular down in Florida for sepsis awareness.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

Because of her little angel, of course.

[Janice Wriston]

Oh, my gosh. I about died whenever I seen that. Like, what is wrong with this person? Is she mentally damaged?

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

There are personality disorders galore among those three.

[Janice Wriston]

Yeah, well, she's got all of them. But when we're sitting at the table inside the lobby at the funeral home discussing how the funeral is going to go, they had Rayleigh's body. I will say this. After Rayleigh's body was released, I was called from the medical examiner and they said, where would you want prostate?

[Commercial Voice (Hiba Botanica)]

Send your daughter if you're a label reader. This one's for you. Because your skin deserves more than empty promises. At Hiba Botanica, every formula is made in house in small batches using organic, truly non toxic ingredients. Plastic free packaging, clean, effective botanicals and safe for all skin types. Even acne prone, no green washing, no filler, just skincare that's gentle, non comedogenic and designed with intention. HEPA Botanica non toxic plastic free, always safe for your skin. Shop [e-mail] that's ex.

[Podcast Host Interviewing Dan Morgan]

I've got Dan Morgan here on the pod. Say hi Dan.

[Dan Morgan]

Hey, how's it going today?

[Podcast Host Interviewing Dan Morgan]

It's going good, man. Tell us who you are and what you do.

[Dan Morgan]

I'm Dan Morgan. I'm an attorney and a managing partner at Morgan and Morgan, which is America's largest injury law firm.

[Podcast Host Interviewing Dan Morgan]

That's pretty awesome. I think I saw a billboard of yours recently that said 20 billion one 20 million is an insane number.

[Dan Morgan]

Yeah, 20 billion recovered. It's actually I think somewhere north, probably closer to 22, 23 after this year. And each year we get bigger and badder and our army grows. So the number will hopefully keep getting bigger and bigger as time goes on.

[Podcast Host Interviewing Dan Morgan]

Awesome. So how does someone get in contact with Morgan and Morgan? What would I do if I got into an accident?

[Dan Morgan]

Probably the easiest way is dialing pound law. That's £529 from your cell phone. We are always open. Our call center is always waiting for to take your call. 24, 7, 365.

[Janice Wriston]

Wow.

[Podcast Host Interviewing Dan Morgan]

Dan Morgan from Morgan and Morgan, America's large injury law firm. Thanks for coming by the show.

[Dan Morgan]

Thanks for having me. Visit for the people.com for an office near you.

[Janice Wriston]

And I said to Tyrese Funeral Home, that is a family funeral home of ours and I have a family cemetery. And then I found out that Marty and Julie came in there and argued and brought a different funeral home. How long with them to collect Rayleigh's body to take her to a Halon funeral home. And I was trying to stop them from taking her to Ha Long. And while we're in the middle of this, you got my mother beside me, Jeremy is beside me. You got Marty and Julie at the other side, the funeral home director, the secretary. We're all sitting at the table. Marty and I are on separate ends of the table. Like I said, I'm in shock. And the only thing I could put together was looking up at him and saying I know that you want to go with High Line. I know you want to go with your family cemetery. I know you want to do everything your way. But can you understand this? I am Rayleigh's mother. You are Rayleigh's father. And at this point, nobody knew that Rayleigh was abused to death. I had my suspicions, obviously, but the shock was like, okay, let's just get this done. So let's do this together. You do 50%, I'll do 50%. That was our baby. And he's nodding his head like he's listening to me and stuff. All of a sudden, Jolie takes her hands and slams them down on the table and says, you are not going to speak like you're the mother of my daughter.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

Oh, my God.

[Janice Wriston]

And I was just in shock. And I'm like, who are you at this point? Like, you're nothing. Why are you even saying anything? And then Jeremy's like, all right, everybody needs to calm down. I think that me as Janice's husband and Julie is Marty's girlfriend. You know, Jolie, why don't me and you just leave the room and let Marty and Janice talk about their child and what they need to do? He's always the one with the level head. He's always the one that keeps everything together and calm. And Jolie just started getting loud and running her mouth. And then finally, she starts screaming about crazy things like, I haven't seen my daughter. I haven't seen her, and I miss her, and I haven't seen her in 14 days. My mind just collapses thinking about it.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

But she just made it all about her.

[Janice Wriston]

Yes.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

That's insane. When the child's parents are sitting right there, it's all about her.

[Janice Wriston]

Yeah. And you could see how she totally dominant over him. And I never thought I'd see that. But he didn't say nothing else. He quit nodding his head and everything. He just sit there like, oh, I'm gonna be quiet. But then the funeral home director said, this is the death of their child, and you're standing up screaming while we're trying to discuss her arrangements. And I don't think it's very good for you to be in this room. And she said, well, fine. Me and Marty will be sitting outside, and I don't want anything else planned because I want her body moved to high alarm.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

Well, who cares what you want, lady?

[Janice Wriston]

The funeral home director, Jonathan's like, all right, this means stop. Let's just take a break. Everybody just take a beat. And they looked at me and said, would you be able. Your daughter is downstairs. And I just broke because I'm going to go see my daughter. And knowing she's not alive. And it's not like what Julie's over here screaming, oh, I haven't seen her. And she's not there anymore. And I was shaking and I nodded my head and Julie hollered, well, we'll go ahead and go down there. And funeral pain director looked at her and said, please go into the front sitting room. And he got her out and he sat there with me. And I just had my hands on my face. I couldn't breathe. Jeremy was rubbing my back. I can remember that, but it just feels like everything was frozen. It's like we were sitting at the table and it seems like I can't even remember walking. I remember getting up and I was going down these steps. As soon as you come down the steps. And it kind of curls around spirally. Then as I went around the spiral, I could see her arms. I could see her face. I just ran to her and I wrapped my arms around her. At the top of her head, my cheek. Know what to do. I didn't know what to say. I didn't know how. What do you do? What do you do? And I started singing. I can't sing. But she loved it. Not sing. You are my sad child. It's the only thing that came out. My mom was trying to hold me. Jeremy was behind both of us trying to hold his baby crap. And my hand started going down her arms and she was bruised. And I started striking her head and right left ear around her temple was just a knot in her and it felt so big. She had bruising on her neck. And the only thing out of the blanket was her shoulders, her arms. And just from seeing her face, her shoulders and her arms. There was bruises in so many different stages all over her. They would be so black where they would be yellow for healing. And her neck, that I have seen before, it's fingerprint. Bruises or fingerprint. Someone had grabbed her by her neck. I couldn't leave. I couldn't leave. And I had been down there so long and. Jeremy suggest. I need you to listen to me. We have to go. We have to go. At this moment, we have to go do something. Okay? And we're going to do it for Riley.

[Guest (Friend or Supporter of Janice)]

Okay?

[Janice Wriston]

It was so hard to walk away from her, leave her there by herself. I know she wasn't there anymore. I know. But just her and just knowing that that's the end. That all of this of me saying no, it's not her. And all the disbelief, she can't be gone. She can't be gone. All of that hits you and it's a realization. But her heart is not beating anymore. I walk back up the stairs and on the way up, he turns around and talks to the secretary. And then I could feel his hand on my back. And I went to turn around to go back down and I was kind of out of it. And he's like, no, Janice, we're not going back down. We got somewhere else we have to go. Just felt like my mind was out of my body. I was pulled to her. I wanted to be right there with her. I didn't want to go anywhere else.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

I'll take another brief sponsor break and be right back.

[Commercial Voice (Hiba Botanica)]

If you're a label reader, this one's for you. Because your skin deserves more than empty promises. At Hiba Botanica, every formula is made in house in small batches using organic, truly non toxic ingredients, plastic free packaging, clean, effective botanicals and safe for all skin types. Even acne prone. No green washing, no filler, just skincare that's gentle, non comedogenic and designed with intention. Non toxic, plastic free, always safe for your skin. Shop [e-mail] that's eggs.

[Podcast Host Interviewing Dan Morgan]

I've got Dan Morgan here on the pod. Say hi, Dan.

[Dan Morgan]

Hey, how's it going today?

[Podcast Host Interviewing Dan Morgan]

It's going good, man. Tell us who you are and what you do.

[Dan Morgan]

I'm Dan Morgan. I'm an attorney and a managing partner at Morgan and Morgan, which is America's largest injury law firm.

[Podcast Host Interviewing Dan Morgan]

That's pretty awesome. I think I saw a billboard of yours recently that said 20 billion one. 20 billion is an insane number.

[Dan Morgan]

Yeah, 20 billion recovered. It's actually I think somewhere north, probably closer to 22, 23 after this year. And each year we get bigger and badder and our army grows. So the number will hopefully keep getting bigger and bigger as time goes on.

[Podcast Host Interviewing Dan Morgan]

Awesome. So how does someone get in contact with Morgan and Morgan? What would I do if I got into an accident?

[Dan Morgan]

Probably the easiest way is dialing pound law. That's £529 from your cell phone. We are always open. Our call center is always waiting to take your call. 247 365.

[Janice Wriston]

Wow.

[Podcast Host Interviewing Dan Morgan]

Dan Morgan from Morgan and Morgan, America's largest injury law firm. Thanks for coming. Coming by the show.

[Dan Morgan]

Thanks for having me. Visit forthepeople.com for an office near you.

[Janice Wriston]

We made it out in the parking lot and said bye to my mom and God I felt frozen in time. And I remember I could barely talk and my lips were numb. And I said, said to Jeremy, I said, b she's been beat. And he said oh no. He said we're going to the prosecutor's office right now. He said I'll talk to the funeral home director and the secretary. And they said it's the first place we need to go now. And we went up there and rang the buzzer and they let us in immediately. As soon as I set Janice wrist in, it was like they opened the door and it was closing time for them. So I was surprised they let us in. But these people know us because they had good, a lot of respect for us for what we had went through with the kids just seven months earlier. And Wes Tony told me, I know. And that's the first thing he said was I know. And he was at the MDT whenever they decided that this all just needed to stop. Kids need to come home. This is ridiculous. So I felt comfortable with him. And he said don't worry, this is not going unnoticed. I said they're talking about taking her body to high on. And he said they already have. He said just breathe. I promise you, I don't know how I'm going to do it. I don't know how it's going to happen. But I can promise you it's going to happen and it's going to be taken care of. He said, you guys have been through enough. And then to beat it all, on top of everything that you guys have suffered and made it through for this to happen to you now, I am so sorry, but trust me, the police are all over this. And I promise you tomorrow this will be in your hands. And that evening as soon as we got home, I got the phone call from Technique. I'm gonna think of her name. Megan Maynard. There it is.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

She was the other cps, right?

[Janice Wriston]

She is the awesome cps.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

Yes, she was. In the interviews with Marty and Julian.

[Janice Wriston]

She knew about what I had recently been through. She knew about their sneaking around and trying to hide Rayleigh. Everyone knew about that. Everyone in the county knew that I had been searching for Rayleigh for months. CPS knew about the women's resources, the courthouse. There wasn't anybody who didn't know that I was looking for Rayleigh. And then boom, she's gone. That's why West Tony was ready. And he did assure me that everything would be taken care of. And this is it, like 5:30. And I cried and Wes Tony hugged me and said it will be taken care of, I promise. He shook Jeremy's hand and said, just, I know this is impossible. Just try to look out for Janice the best you can. And Jeremy said, of course. He said, don't worry about it. We'll get this straightened out. And yeah, her body had already been moved. And we left from there and made it to Raleigh County. As soon as we walked into our house, I got a call from Megan Maynard. Megan Maynard said, janice, you're in charge. You're in charge of all of this. They have no say so. And if they think that they do, I will make sure that they don't. I'll be the one there to let them know that they're not going to get what they want. So I was like, what are you going to do with Julie? She said, don't you worry about Julie. She said, I'm not even going to call her. I'll deal with her whenever she shows up at the funeral home tomorrow. She said, just be at how long? And I said, okay. She said, I'll make it biological parents only. How about that? And I said, okay, that sounds good. So I showed up there and sure enough, she pulled in the parking lot by herself. She didn't even have Marty with her. She said she was there to speak on behalf of Marty. And Megan Maynard said, you are not Marty, nor are you married to Marty, nor is this going to involve you, because this is for biological parents only. She said, well, Marty's in the hospital. And Megan Minor said, that's just too bad. Looks like Janice is going to take it from here. I went in and the how on people were very like, pro Julie. For some reason, I have no idea why you would think that she had already paid for this or something. And I asked them, can you just transfer funds to Tyres Funeral Home? And they said, oh, well, they've only paid US$200. And I thought, why are you so persistent on having R's funeral?

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

Because you didn't want it.

[Janice Wriston]

I just didn't understand them. I didn't understand them at all in their part in this. But I can only imagine she probably knew this person personally just like she had everyone else. So I thought, I'll give this a try. They're like, would you like to look at the casket that was picked out? And I said, sure. So I walked in there to look at the casket that they had picked out. This was big enough to fit probably somebody 6 foot tall and 400 pounds. This casket was huge. I could not even believe it. I said, this casket and they said, yeah, this is what size we keep. I said, she's a child. They said, well, we have baby caskets, but we don't have. I said, no, I'm not. I'm not doing none of this here.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

They couldn't just place an order.

[Janice Wriston]

Yeah. Unfortunately, Rayleigh did have to be moved once more. And I hated that. But whenever I came into Tyrese, I felt at home again. Tyrese Funeral Home buried my dad and know my mom personally. And they also buried my grandfather. Everything had been set up at high on for me to come in and spend from none to 11 with Rayleigh and my family. And then from 11 to 2, Julie and her family. And Marty was going to be there and I had to leave her family. This is crazy. I could not believe my ears whenever I heard all of this. I can not believe it. I thought, what. What is wrong with this funeral home? And they're like, and she's going to be buried in the Browning cemetery. They've already dug the plot. And I'm like, too bad. So they dig a plot and you think that that means that's where she's going? I said, you know what, you can just cancel all of that. All of this? All of this here, how long? Anything that you guys had planned? No, I'm going to Tyrese. Tyrese, that lady that had worked there, she knew, like I said, my whole family. She knew my mom, she knew my thoughts, she knew my wishes. She knew every, like every detail. She even paid for Rayleigh's obituary, which was $280. And I was the one who wrote the obituary. With her help. She pretty much put it together and had me go through it and do the details of it. And it was hard. And then I found out Marty had been up there every single day that week begging them. What can I do to get her at the Browning cemetery? What can I do? I don't know why it mattered so much.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

Because it was not what you wanted.

[Janice Wriston]

That's it, right? Well, whenever they mentioned the Browning cemetery, whenever I was talking about, you know, 50 me, 50 youth, let's work in this together. Whenever I mentioned that, I said, yeah, I have my family cemetery and you have yours. Why don't we just go with High Lawns cemetery and she could be laid the rest there so no one has to feel awkward about coming to visit her grave. And I put that out on the table. And Jolie absolutely refused that and said, no, she is going to the Browning cemetery. It doesn't matter what you say, what you do that's where she will be laid to rest.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

I love that she thought she had any say.

[Janice Wriston]

She really thought that she did. And she was nothing to Riley. I don't know. She convinced herself that she was somebody.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

Yes. Because these people believe their own lies, right?

[Janice Wriston]

And make it, make it to the funeral. Things was hard. I can't even form into words. I did go back the day before the funeral after I got all the plans arranged and everything was done. You know, from the time that I had seen her body, I think it was two days later. It's hard to think back on it. Gosh, Lane. I look numb all over. And just shock. My legs. Didn't want to walk, didn't want to hold me up and felt like I was just breaking Jerry, he just got me through it. And I stood by the casket the entire time. I got scared for a minute because they called everyone out and I was there by myself. And Jonathan's like, jaz, it's okay. Don't worry, it's okay. And I'm like, what's going on? Wait a minute. And they went to close her casket and I said, no, what are you doing? You're not supposed to close your casket yet. And they said, it's just for a minute. And I said, okay, so it'll be open back up because we're just getting started here and I want to make sure everyone has a chance to say goodbye to Riley. And they opened the back doors and that's when I seen her, one of the surviving children coming in with a handful of flowers with Lauren. Lauren as kind of like a second mom too. A very good pound holder person. I could tell because surviving child number two, she handed me the flowers and said, you're Raelee's mommy. You look like Rayleigh. And I just, you know, in the presence of a child, you don't want to collapse, break down and start bawling. She said, rayleigh's my best friend. I love her.

[Commercial Voice (Hiba Botanica)]

If you're a label reader, this one's for you. Because your skin deserves more than empty promises. At HIBA Botanica every formula is made in house in small batches using organic truly non toxic ingredients, plastic free packaging, clean, effective botanicals and safe for all skin types, even acne prone. No green washing, no filler, just skincare that's gentle, non comedogenic and designed with intention. HEBA Botanica non toxic, plastic free, always safe for your skin. Shop [e-mail] that's ex.

[Podcast Host Interviewing Dan Morgan]

I've got Dan Morgan here On the pod, say hi, Dan.

[Dan Morgan]

Hey, how's it going today?

[Podcast Host Interviewing Dan Morgan]

It's going good, man. Tell us who you are and what you do.

[Dan Morgan]

I'm Dan Morgan. I'm an attorney and a managing partner at Morgan and Morgan, which is America's largest injury law firm.

[Podcast Host Interviewing Dan Morgan]

That's pretty awesome. I think I saw a billboard of yours recently that said 20 billion one. 20 million is an insane number.

[Dan Morgan]

Yeah, 20 billion recovered. It's actually, I think somewhere north. Probably closer to 22, 23 after this year. And each year we get bigger and badder and our army grows. So the number will hopefully keep getting bigger and bigger as time goes on.

[Podcast Host Interviewing Dan Morgan]

Awesome. So how does someone get in contact with Morgan and Morgan? What would I do if I got into an accident?

[Dan Morgan]

Probably the easiest way is dialing pound law. That's £529 from your cell phone. We are always open. Our call center is always waiting to take your call. 24 7, 365.

[Guest (Friend or Supporter of Janice)]

Wow.

[Podcast Host Interviewing Dan Morgan]

Dan Morgan from Morgan and Morgan, America's large injury law firm. Thanks for coming by the show.

[Dan Morgan]

Thanks for having me. Visit forthepeople.com for an office near you.

[Janice Wriston]

And I just crouched down to my knees and I hugged her and I said, I love her too and I know she loves you. She said, okay, well, here's the flowers for Ry. And so Rayleigh, I said bye and bye. Rayleigh's mom and Lauren just took her hand and walked her back out. And it took me a minute to breathe. After that, they had me leave the room. I was out for five minutes and then I came back in and they opened casket back up. Apparently they must have had her escorted in. Sherry and Julie Dim. I don't know one of them or both of them were escorted in. This. This place was covered in police. There is cops outside with their lights on. There was police standing by the doors. There was undercover police all through the funeral home. And like whenever they closed the casket because that was going to be it, that was it. Closing the casket mean it's over. I know what you mean.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

But there's no way she's not with you at all times.

[Janice Wriston]

I can feel her. I heard her a couple weeks ago in the middle of the night saying, mom, Mom. And I jumped up, sat in the. Up in the bed and thought it was a dream. Jamie didn't hear it, of course. She was here, right here with me. I feel like she's with me right now even telling a story, especially after being silenced for so long through the gag order and then through the health Conditions that took over after she died. I was in so much shock that I couldn't even realize what was going on for so long. And, you know, my other babies are growing up and my husband's here, and I wasn't. And my health just started getting worse and worse. And then they said I was experiencing broken heart syndrome and that I had a heart attack. A few months later, I'm in heart failure. A few months later, I'm in kidney failure.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

Oh, my God.

[Janice Wriston]

Been in ICU five times for sepsis. I tried to write my book during that time, and, gosh, like I said, I. I can't even really remember everything that I wrote. I'm going to have to go back through it, make adjustments, and I do plan on finishing the book, but.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

I know you will.

[Janice Wriston]

Yeah. My sunshine, she. She deserves that. She was so special. She was so special in so many ways. And it's so unfair, which. I know life's unfair. I know.

[Guest (Friend or Supporter of Janice)]

I get that.

[Janice Wriston]

I've had a lot of unfairness when my kids were taken for no reason, that was unfair. But we tested out and made it through it. And I think the court just thought that they made it better with a full dismissal, which, yeah, it couldn't end it any better. I mean, a full dismissal was the best that you can get. And considering it been the only one in Fayette county, it's impressive. But it should have never happened with Raleigh. It should have never happened. Had one person just listened, stood by me, pushed with me. Listened. Just listened to. He will kill her. She's 8 years old and he's going to kill her.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

And you, you used those words.

[Janice Wriston]

Those words, yeah, because I knew it was all a setup. The whole play of. As soon as I found out that she had been working with cps, I found out the whole thing of my kids being jerked out with all of that happening, and it was a tragedy on its phone. And that's time. But I can't get back. And then to Moxy Rayleigh for almost 18 months before she was killed.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

And for people to say that you were absent.

[Janice Wriston]

One person called me the bio mom, and I said, the bio mom?

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

You mean the mom.

[Janice Wriston]

Did you just call me the bio mom? And her only mom, she had no other mom. And then. I'm not going to say this individual's name, but she was like, oh, my gosh, Janice, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to offend you. It was one person specifically in his family, and she didn't mean to do it. I think she had Talked to him, and he had called me that, and maybe she had just repeated that. And after it came to, you know, the reality, because everybody believed his lie that I was the bad person or I was the crazy person or whatever. And, you know, of course people in his circle are going to listen to him. I'm not speaking to none of them, so sure they're listening to him. And when I was called to bio mom, I did Japan say, only mom, right? And I fought for her as hard as I could fight for her, especially whenever I went to court. And I told them, he is touching her. He is hurting her. And the judge looks at me and says, how do you know? I see that you didn't even take her to camc. I said, dude, I need to take her to camc. After she had already talked to a doctor. Doctor had already evaluated her. She already had two tears on her bottom. The police were there. I filed the protection order. So now we need the protection. And I was told that, well, it was. It was basically these words. First judge says, I don't know if you understand the severity of the claims that you are making against Mr. Browning.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

Unbelievable. He still thought you were lying.

[Janice Wriston]

And I said, rather, it's against Mr. Browning, or rather, it's against Mr. Browninger's father, who was just released for sexual abuse. And then the judge said, oh, okay, so that's what this is about. Because his father got released from prison, and he was in prison over sexual abuse charges. And then he looks at Marty and says, is your father anywhere near your daughter? And Marty said, no. And the judge said, well, then that's it. I said, no. She's saying her father. If you just read it. He said, Ms. Wrist. And we have been back and forth about this. You're here every couple months looking at me and trying to change the order in which I felt comfortable with. So what if I was to change my order? And what if I was to take her out of Mr. Browning's custody and place her with you and something happened to her? That would be on me.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

Well, it's on him.

[Janice Wriston]

And I said, she's not safe. Look at what happened with the belt marks. Look at what happened with her leg. Judge didn't know anything about her leg. He said, I don't know anything about it. I don't want to hear anything about it. I've already heard enough in this. I made the arrangements. You stick with the arrangements. Do not come back in my courtroom, or I will make sure that you lose custody of your daughter and she will go into state custody. I know he meant it towards me because I was the one constantly complaining. Marty did take me in there one time for child support with Julie's handwriting all over every piece of paper that came through. None of it was ever filed by Marty. It was always Julie filing this paperwork.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

Let's hear another word from my sponsors.

[Chumba Casino Announcer]

How to have fun anytime anywhere. STEP 1 Go to chumbacasino.com chumbacasino.com Got it. STEP 2 Collect your welcome bonus.

[Janice Wriston]

Come to papa. Welcome bonus.

[Chumba Casino Announcer]

Step 3 Play hundreds of casino style games for free.

[Janice Wriston]

That's a lot of games all for free.

[Chumba Casino Announcer]

Step 4 Unleash your excitement. Woo hoo. Chumba Casino has been delivering thrills for over a decade. So claim your free welcome bonus now and live the chumba life. Visit chumbacasino.com no purchase necessary vgw group.

[Commercial Voice (Hiba Botanica)]

Void where prohibited by law 21 + terms and conditions apply.

[Podcast Host Interviewing Dan Morgan]

I've got Dan Morgan here on the pod. Say hi Dan.

[Janice Wriston]

Hey.

[Dan Morgan]

How's it going today?

[Podcast Host Interviewing Dan Morgan]

It's going good, man. Tell us who you are and what you do.

[Dan Morgan]

I'm Dan Morgan. I'm an attorney and a managing partner at Morgan and Morgan, which is America's largest injury law firm.

[Podcast Host Interviewing Dan Morgan]

That's pretty awesome. I think I saw a billboard of yours recently. It said 20 billion one. 20 billion is an insane number.

[Dan Morgan]

Yeah, 20 billion recovered. It's actually, I think somewhere north. Probably closer to 22, 23 after this year. And each year we get bigger and badder and our army grows. So the number will hopefully keep getting bigger and bigger as time goes on.

[Podcast Host Interviewing Dan Morgan]

Awesome. So how does someone get in contact with Morgan and Morgan? What would I do if I got into an accident?

[Dan Morgan]

Probably the easiest way is dialing pound law. That's £529 from your cell phone. We are always open. Our call center is always waiting to take your call. 247365 wow.

[Podcast Host Interviewing Dan Morgan]

Dan Morgan from Morgan and Morgan, America's large injury law firm. Thanks for coming by the show.

[Dan Morgan]

Thanks for having me. Visit forthepeople.com an office near you.

[Janice Wriston]

And I. I do want to say this. Marty blocked out all of his family and I do want it known that that was a mistake because he actually does have a normal good mother. And he has a good stepfather, which he hated. He hated his stepfather. And the things that he told me about Donald was terrible. But Donald is not terrible. He would tell me terrible things about Tina, his mother. But Tina is not a terrible person. Tina would have never let anything happen to Rayleigh. I know that he didn't want to go around his mother, he didn't want to go around Donald, he didn't want to go around Donald's children, and he wanted to stay as far away from all of them as he could, but yet he wanted to be around his dad, the one that was in prison.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

For molesting a family member child.

[Janice Wriston]

Right. Like, why did he block out the good people that was in his life? The good people that could have been like, oh, my gosh, she's bruised and beaten, Marty.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

Yep, that's why.

[Janice Wriston]

Or, oh, my gosh, Marty, look how skinny she is. Feed her.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

Exactly.

[Janice Wriston]

Yes. Because they would have brought attention to it. He has his own sadistic messed upness to him, and he found his match with her. That's all I can say.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

I've always wondered, how do these people find each other? Is there a dating service for psychopaths? I don't understand it.

[Janice Wriston]

Or is there like a magnet? Just get, like, magnetically attractive, like, look at each other. Like, hey, you a psycho?

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

Hey, you'd starve a kid, wouldn't you?

[Janice Wriston]

Yeah. Would you beat one.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

Oh, and your sister, too, right?

[Janice Wriston]

I always wondered, too, about that. You got Julie and Shuri and Marty. The officer asked me, so is Julie and Sheree, like, is that his girlfriend's? Is there one in particular? I know that he ended up marrying Julie, but is the other girl, like, are they like a threesome type thing? And I said, officer Pack, I have no idea. I don't want to know. I have heard this brought up. People had said it before. Janice, don't you think it's weird that they all. They're together like that? Odd that, you know, he didn't just find one psychopath, he found two. And if anyone wants to ask me if I thought that Julie was intimidated by Rayleigh, my answer is yes, a thousand times over.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

Like I said, Rayleigh was beautiful, which matters to Julie. Yes, she looked just like you, which, oh, my God, we can't have that. And Marty may have shown up front that he loved her and she couldn't abide by that, so she trained that out of him. And all of this happened because in.

[Janice Wriston]

The beginning, first time he looked at it, like at the hospital, he was horrible.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

Yeah, Once he eventually got there.

[Janice Wriston]

Yeah, once I eventually got there.

[Guest (Friend or Supporter of Janice)]

Whenever I get in there, he's screaming. He's mean. And then he started screaming and cussing me out. And the nurses were like, out now. Not just out of the room. Get out of the hospital. Get out. He had to go Outside. My mom said when she pulled up outside, he was standing beside the truck smoking a joint. And my mom's like, what's going on? He said, oh, if Stuffy in there couldn't breathe, I'd come out here. She didn't know until she came inside. And I'm like, yeah, he got kicked out. And I was exhausted because I had been up all night. I was so tired. And they said, well, you can go to sleep for a little while. And there was, like, this little button thing on the epidural. So I drift off in this beautiful sleep. I can never forget it. It was sunshine and rainbows, and I was in no pain. And I could remember the nurses waking me up, and my mom standing there, and they're like, well, it's time for you to have a baby.

[Janice Wriston]

And I said, huh? What? And they're like, you're completely dilated.

[Guest (Friend or Supporter of Janice)]

We're gonna have to turn down the epidural now. And I'm like, wait a minute. I'm not ready. Well, you have to get ready because. And she popped my water at that time, and she's like, baby's coming.

[Janice Wriston]

And they're like, real quick question.

[Guest (Friend or Supporter of Janice)]

Do you want the dad in here for this? And, like, I think this nurse was praying that I would say no, because they were getting ready to, you know, adjust the epidural to where I could feel and push. And Mom's like, janice. And I'm like, I guess. But, you know, and mom runs down and gets him, and he comes in there. And as soon as they adjusted the epidural, I mean, he came in there just in time. Like, my mom was on one side, he was on the other, and he came in there just in time for his daughter to be born. All his meanness, I don't know where it went. He just looked at her and was just like, wow, baby. I'm talking nine months of hell of this man screaming that he can't have kids because of diabetes, wanting to know who the baby father is, wanting me to say something. I don't know what he was searching for, but in those moments, all of it was gone. He was just like, I'm a dad. And when she was born, she. She looked just like him. And she had this beautiful sunshine hair. Oh, my gosh. Beautiful. I say sunshine hair because when I was holding her in my arms, the window was, like, right there to the right of me. There's so much going on in the room, and there's all this chaos, and I'm holding my baby for the Very first time. I'm first person holding her and I'm kissing her and I'm like, my baby.

[Janice Wriston]

Like, look at that little girl.

[Guest (Friend or Supporter of Janice)]

And I'm like pulling her up on.

[Janice Wriston]

My chest and I look down and.

[Guest (Friend or Supporter of Janice)]

Her hair is just shimmering from the light. Come inside. Because it's like a little bit after two o' clock and the sun was just positioned perfect in the sky to just shoot right through the window on her little head. And it just gleamed. And I just. Oh, you're my sunshine. Oh, my God, you're perfect. Look at you. 10 fingers, 10 toes, this beautiful baby. And she's mine. And I always did call her that. Well, I never said, this is our baby. I always said, this is my baby. My baby. And she was always my baby.

[Janice Wriston]

All the way up to the.

[Guest (Friend or Supporter of Janice)]

I don't even remember stopping.

[Janice Wriston]

She loved to be inside of my shirt. Yeah, I remember, like, kangarooing her around.

[Guest (Friend or Supporter of Janice)]

In my hoodies and stuff. And kept her right up against my belly with her little piggy tails sticking out of the neck of my shirt.

[Janice Wriston]

She was just.

[Guest (Friend or Supporter of Janice)]

Because I always wore a tank top. And then I would put on a hoodie and she would just cuddle up inside the hoodie right up against me. And even all the way up till she was six, almost seven at that age. I got my robe and she would take her arms and wrap them around my neck in the morning, like right before the sun would come up, and she would hold onto my neck. I'd be like, hold real tightly. And I'd put on my robe. And with the strength of her arms, she would hold on and wrap her legs around my stomach. And I'd put my robe on and I would wrap it around her backside and put my hands up underneath her butt there. And she would just have herself just propped like that's where she belonged. And we would just sat on the porch, watched the sun. I was always an early morning person. And she was, too. She loved mornings. She loved it. She was definitely sunshine, baby. My house was perfect for sunrises. It would come up and creep through. She would come to the end of the bed and she'd say, the sun's waking up.

[Janice Wriston]

Sun's going to wake up, Mom.

[Guest (Friend or Supporter of Janice)]

Okay, I'm going to say there was a couple times that I was like, come here and I'll just pull her in the bed and just snuggle her back to sleep.

[Janice Wriston]

Exactly. Yes.

[Guest (Friend or Supporter of Janice)]

And then there are other times that she would be like, are you gonna get your coffee, Mom? Are you gonna get your coffee, Mom? And I'd be like, yes, maybe I'm getting my coffee. And I'd get up and she would be toting my robe around, coming right behind me with my red robe. It has hearts all over it. She. She would sleep with it, snuggle with it. And every morning I getting her up.

[Janice Wriston]

And holding her butt and wrapping her.

[Guest (Friend or Supporter of Janice)]

Up and sitting in the chair on the porch, just watching the sunrise, drinking a coffee and just snuggling with her. And mommy, the sun's awake.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

I love that so much.

[Guest (Friend or Supporter of Janice)]

She was a joy. Every night, whenever we would lay down and go to sleep, I would always say, I thank God for every moment I have with my babies. And it's because I always feared. I don't know if it's mother's intuition, but I could feel my time is limited. So every squeeze was that much tighter. Every time she laid on my shoulder, every detail has been burned into my mind. Just the trace of her face, the hairline, her laugh. Echoes the thought of her. Just brings a smile to my face. Still, I have beautiful memories. Even though my iPad was stolen. It was her iPad. But all of her pictures, all of her videos, all of her birthdays, all.

[Janice Wriston]

Of everything was on it.

[Guest (Friend or Supporter of Janice)]

And it was stolen in 2019 right after. And even on the COVID it said Rayleigh on it. So even the person that stole it knew whose it was. I can't stand it that all of it's gone. But my memories are strong. All the way to the scent of her head and her beauty.

[Chumba Casino Announcer]

How to have fun anytime, anywhere. Step 1 Go to chumbacasino.com chumbacasino.com Got it. Step 2 Collect your welcome bonus.

[Janice Wriston]

Come to papa. Welcome bonus.

[Chumba Casino Announcer]

Step 3 Play hundreds of casino style games for free.

[Janice Wriston]

Head a lot of games.

[Dan Morgan]

All for free.

[Chumba Casino Announcer]

Step 4 Unleash your excitement. Chamba Casino has been delivering thrills for over a decade. So claim your free welcome bonus now and live the chumba life. Visit chumbacasino.com no purchase necessary vgw group.

[Commercial Voice (Hiba Botanica)]

Void we're prohibited by law 21 +.

[Janice Wriston]

Terms and conditions apply.

[Podcast Host Interviewing Dan Morgan]

I've got Dan Morgan here on the pod. Say hi, Dan.

[Dan Morgan]

Hey, how's it going today?

[Podcast Host Interviewing Dan Morgan]

It's going good, man. Tell us who you are and what you you do.

[Dan Morgan]

I'm Dan Morgan. I'm an attorney and a managing partner at Morgan and Morgan, which is America's largest injury law firm.

[Podcast Host Interviewing Dan Morgan]

That's pretty awesome. I think I saw a billboard of yours recently. It said 20 billion one. 20 billion is an insane number.

[Dan Morgan]

Yeah, 20 billion recovered. It's actually I think somewhere north. Probably closer to 22, 23 after this year. And each year we get bigger and better and our army grows. So the number will hopefully keep getting bigger and bigger as time goes on.

[Podcast Host Interviewing Dan Morgan]

Awesome. So how does someone get in contact with Morgan and Morgan, what would I do if I got into an accident?

[Dan Morgan]

Probably the easiest way is dialing pound law. That's £529 from your cell phone. We are always open. Our call center is always waiting to take your call. 247 365.

[Guest (Friend or Supporter of Janice)]

Wow.

[Podcast Host Interviewing Dan Morgan]

Dan Morgan from Morgan & Morgan, America's largest injury law firm. Thanks for coming by the show.

[Dan Morgan]

Thanks for having me. Visit forthepeople.com for an office near you.

[Guest (Friend or Supporter of Janice)]

Oh yes. She outshined Julie. Julie would be in nothing a grain of sand compared to Raleigh's beauty. She wanted her hair to grow. And after giving her Flintstone vitamins and I would send them with Cherie and Rayleigh told me that Cherie would throw them away as soon as they got there. And every time Rayleigh's hair would grow out, she would cut it. Surviving Child one said at the hearing that the reason that she would cut Rayleigh's hair was because she knew how much Rayleigh loved Rapunzel and how much Raleigh wanted her hair to grow. That is why Sheree cut it off.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

Just because she's an awful person.

[Guest (Friend or Supporter of Janice)]

If they didn't want her, what was so wrong with giving her to me? You know, Marty called me the day after going to the hospital. The day after Candace called to tell Jeremy to tell me that Rayleigh was gone. He called me the very next day and I remember screaming in the phone, what did you do? What did you do, Janice? I didn't do anything. Jesus, I didn't do anything. I seen her that morning. She was fine. I was leaving for work. It was around six or seven. She came running to me and she wrapped her arms around my stomach and she said, daddy, don't go to work. I don't feel good today. And I told her, maybe we can go to the doctor tomorrow. And he told me this on the phone. The day after she was gone, there's no way she could have got up out of the bed. And he told the police that nobody saw him that morning, that he just got up and went for work.

[Janice Wriston]

Nobody seen him.

[Guest (Friend or Supporter of Janice)]

But yet he told me that she jumped up and ran to him.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

And it's hard to keep your story straight when you lie.

[Guest (Friend or Supporter of Janice)]

Definitely. My grandmother used to always say everything comes out in the wash. So any lies you tell, believe It. They will come up.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

Oh, yeah. The autopsy proved him to be a huge liar.

[Guest (Friend or Supporter of Janice)]

Yeah, he's a monster. All three of them, they've snuffed out one of the most beautiful lights in this world. And I hope that her story can bring change. And I hope that if there is a woman that's getting beaten and scared, I do hope that she hears this, and I hope that she does ask to speak to the police at the hospital after he's done beat the hell out of her, because it comes up in court. Why didn't you call the police? I couldn't believe it.

[Janice Wriston]

All of it.

[Guest (Friend or Supporter of Janice)]

The story that he came up with, that I was with strangers.

[Janice Wriston]

Yeah, right.

[Guest (Friend or Supporter of Janice)]

These are your friends. For, like, years. Just because John distracted him while I got away.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

Yep.

[Guest (Friend or Supporter of Janice)]

I had it all planned out. I knew what I was doing. I had the whole plan. So many nights, for the first two years of her life, he would scream and yell and cuss in the other room. And I would ask him and beg him, please, be quiet. Please, I'll do anything. Be quiet. Don't wake her up. And then she'd wake up, and I'd go in there and hold her and just sway back and forth and sing, you are my Sunshine. And I sang it to her since she was a baby, all the way.

[Janice Wriston]

Up to the point where she was.

[Guest (Friend or Supporter of Janice)]

Big enough to come bounce in my bed and say, mommy, sing, you are my sunshine. She knew she was my little sunshine. She knew that.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

Oh, yeah.

[Janice Wriston]

I love the way that she would.

[Guest (Friend or Supporter of Janice)]

Talk and just ramble and just go on and on and on about the blades of grass, the trees, the flowers are waking up. Look, Mom. Look over there. There's a bird. You're just observant of everything around. And of course, as everyone's heard, she loved Rapunzel. Yeah, but she also loved Frozen. It wasn't Elsa that she looked to like most do.

[Janice Wriston]

It was Anna.

[Guest (Friend or Supporter of Janice)]

She liked Anna. And she had an Anna doll, and she had a Rapunzel doll. And I still have her on a doll. And I still have her baby book, which I kept up with. And I have this picture of her. She's sitting on a porch playing dress up. And it was, like, dead of summer. We're talking 90 degrees outside. He had on a little toboggan. I had, like, little steps. She loved to play dress up. And every Halloween, I would always save her Halloween costume and let her play dress up. Or whenever they would have the sales right after Halloween, everything would be marked down, like, 75%. Yes, go in there. And get all kinds of stuff and baby dolls. Hallie was more of the baby doll thing. Rayleigh liked her ponies. And Rayleigh would try to put the doll clothes on her ponies.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

Well, you have to try.

[Guest (Friend or Supporter of Janice)]

Halle was playing with the baby dolls. Hallie was a couple years older, But.

[Janice Wriston]

Allie would be like, no, Rayleigh, you're.

[Guest (Friend or Supporter of Janice)]

Supposed to put it on the babies, not on the ponies. They were so cute playing together, and they were so close and have so many pictures. Hallie and Rayleigh would go get Jalen's playpen and snuggle Jalen and get her up in the mornings. And it would just be so fun on the weekends that Hallie and Jacob and Rayleigh and then Jason. I grew up in a family, you know, my mom had five kids, and we were always busy, and our cousins were always in town, so there was always like 8 to 10 kids running around. So that's my comfort right there. I love kids and I love the noise. The only thing that scares me is silence. Silence scares me. Rayleigh loved her hair being done. She loved it. The side braid was her favorite, and that's what I did for her viewing. But she felt like a princess whenever it was braided. And she also had a Rapunzel wig. That Rapunzel wig. She wore it around so much, I couldn't keep it because she just wore it out by the time she was 6 or 7 because the hair was so long it dragged the ground. Every person when she go to church, she loved church. She had, like this Jesus and God and where do they come from? And if there was God who made God, and if God made us, then who made God? And if Jesus is God's son, then what does that make us? Because they say that we're God's children. So if Jesus was got, she would go in depth, I love that. For five and six years old, just in depth, about the curiosity of the Bible and how interesting and amusing because I grew up on all these Bible stories. So whenever I would tuck her in at night, I would tell her all the stories of Jonah and the well and the giants and Moses. And. Because I can't even think of them all right now, just all of them. Joseph and the coat of many colors and how his brothers sold him. Why did they sell him? Mom, just. There was no telling a bedtime story. And Rayleigh going to sleep, she would want to contradict and understand every aspect of this story. Well, wait a minute. If this is how this happened, then.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

Mom, this is a plot hole.

[Guest (Friend or Supporter of Janice)]

There's yeah. There's something more to this, Mom. There's something else. I can feel it.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

Oh, I love that she's so smart.

[Guest (Friend or Supporter of Janice)]

It was easier to just put her on my lap and sing, you know, my Sunshine to her and just rock and sway. Or to put her to sleep if she would crawl up in my bed and I would turn Tinkerbell on and she would snuggle up right up on my collarbone with my cheek on her hair. And I can still feel that that was the easiest way of getting her to sleep. And she would always say that she wanted her bedtime snack, which was she would get, like, carrots and crackers or celery or pancake. Crackers and cheese.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

Yeah.

[Guest (Friend or Supporter of Janice)]

Occasionally I would do Oreos and milk, that blood sugar stuff. No, I was not pricking her fingers. No, no, there was nothing wrong with her blood sugar. Nothing. Like, whenever they told me to start checking it, and she would let me poke her finger and I checked it and it was normal all the time. There was one time it was, like, at 68, and that was first thing in the morning, and it was before breakfast and she was hungry and just feed her and she's not going to have blood sugar issues. She did not. And Sherri would send me a message that would say, did you check her blood sugar? And I'd be like, yeah, I was at like, 92 and 110 and 96. So I was just blowing off numbers. Rayleigh was fine the entire time. There was nothing wrong. She would eat breakfast like a normal child, lunch like a normal child, dinner like a normal child, and then, you know, her bedtime snack. She was fine. There was nothing wrong. And no, she did not gorge herself. She would throw up. No, she wasn't like purging.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

She ate.

[Guest (Friend or Supporter of Janice)]

Gosh, that's insane. All of the stuff that they said, everything that they came up with, no. Said she had adhd. No, no. I have seen adhd. She does not have adhd. Not that ADHD is a bad thing.

[Janice Wriston]

Right.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

But you know it.

[Guest (Friend or Supporter of Janice)]

Chase, my son has adhd. The open heart surgery they said may have possibly caused him to have it because it may have caused a little bit of lack of oxygen to his brain. And not that it's a bad thing, but I'm going to tell you, the boy can bounce off the walls. But Riley didn't have it. She was the most well behaved child.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

Time for another quick sponsor break.

[Commercial Voice (Hiba Botanica)]

If you're a label reader, this one's for you. Because your skin deserves more than empty promises. @ Hiba Botanica. Every formula is made in house in small batches using organic, truly non toxic ingredients. Plastic free packaging, clean, effective botanicals and safe for all skin types even acne prone. No green washing, no filler, just skincare that's gentle, non comedogenic and designed with intention. Heba Botanica Non toxic plastic free, always safe for your skin. Shop [e-mail] that's ex.

[Podcast Host Interviewing Dan Morgan]

I've got Dan Morgan here on the pod. Say hi Dan.

[Dan Morgan]

Hey, how's it going today?

[Podcast Host Interviewing Dan Morgan]

It's going good man. Tell us who you are and what you do.

[Dan Morgan]

I'm Dan Morgan. I'm an attorney and a managing partner at Morgan and Morgan which is America's largest injury law firm.

[Podcast Host Interviewing Dan Morgan]

That's pretty awesome. I think I saw a billboard of yours recently that said 20 billion. 120 million is an insane number.

[Dan Morgan]

Yeah, 20 billion recovered. It's actually I think somewhere north, probably closer to 22, 23 after this year. And each year we get bigger and badder and our army grows. So the number will hopefully keep getting bigger and bigger as time goes on.

[Podcast Host Interviewing Dan Morgan]

Awesome. So how does someone get in contact with Morgan and Morgan? What would I do if I got into an accident?

[Dan Morgan]

Probably the easiest way is dialing pound law. That's £529 from your cell phone. We are always open. Our call center is always waiting to take your call. 247365.

[Guest (Friend or Supporter of Janice)]

Wow.

[Podcast Host Interviewing Dan Morgan]

Dan Morgan from Morgan and Morgan, America's large injury law firm. Thanks for coming by the show.

[Dan Morgan]

Thanks for having me. Visit forthepeople.com for an office near you.

[Guest (Friend or Supporter of Janice)]

Snuggles. Just Snuggles. She didn't need anything to occupy her time. She didn't need to be entertained. She had a beautiful imagination. She could play Barbies and ponies for hours on end. She could play dress up. She could go in the living room, turn on the TV and watch whatever she wanted to watch. It was just normal. She would be home and she was just a normal child. She slept good all the time. There was never any problems with that.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

It is amazing what lack of food can do. I mean, of course she's getting up in the middle of the night to quote, unquote, steal food because she doesn't get it. But she wasn't doing it at your house because you fed her and you treated her well. There were no behavioral issues.

[Guest (Friend or Supporter of Janice)]

No, none. There was no behavioral issues at all. No punishments, Never ever. And I had such a fear every time she had to go back. But while she was in school, whenever she started Talking about Miss Silly Birdie. The way she first said Silly Birdie, it came out as Silly Birdie.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

Yeah.

[Guest (Friend or Supporter of Janice)]

So I would always ask what's Miss Silly Birdie doing? You know, I didn't know it was still a birdie.

[Janice Wriston]

Right. But Rayleigh would talk about her talk.

[Guest (Friend or Supporter of Janice)]

And talk and talk, talk on and about Ms. Celebrity, of what she did, of what she said, of what she gave her and what she. And she would always have so much to say about her. She loved Miss Celebrity and it made me feel safe about her going back to her dad's and knowing that she was going to school every day to these teachers in which she talked about that she loved. She mentioned all of her teachers. Ms. Sylla Birdie just stuck because her pick, I guess the one she always talked about. So it was a peace of mind when school was in and in the summertime I would try to keep her as much as I could. Tell you one thing, she loved watching those movies and the Tinkerbell and Doc McStuffins. And it just occurred to my mind she hated Monster House. Gosh, I mean it has a good ending but the only time I ever remember her expressing like any fear of anything. She did not like Monster House. It was a Halloween kids movie and Jacob and Halle was watching it and the whole thing just kind of creeped her out. She hated it. It's the only thing that I can think of that she disliked.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

She was so agreeable.

[Guest (Friend or Supporter of Janice)]

When I think of Ray, I think of so many good memories. I don't have any bad except for drop offs.

[Janice Wriston]

Hiccups were great.

[Guest (Friend or Supporter of Janice)]

Now she'd come running, Mom. Oh mommy. But it was sad on Sundays cuz she would be in the bath. Loved baths. She would pick her head up from the bathtub and say mom, is it Sunday? And yeah, that's what it was. Long periods of silence. I didn't want to lie to her.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

You just want her to have that peace for a little while longer.

[Guest (Friend or Supporter of Janice)]

Yes, that's what it was. I would always tell her, don't worry, we'll stop at McDonald's first or we'll go early and I'll give you an extra love and snuggle, okay? She'd cry. It was hard. It felt like she would go there, be beat and bruised, dirty when I pick her up. And then I'd spend the whole weekend doctoring her up mentally and physically to send her back for her to go through all that again. A complete nightmare. And it feels so unfair. Her eight years of life. And that's what she had to live.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

It does sound like she packed a lot in, though. So smart and knowledgeable and curious.

[Guest (Friend or Supporter of Janice)]

So smart.

[Janice Wriston]

Oh, my gosh.

[Guest (Friend or Supporter of Janice)]

Also, geez. I've never seen a kid pick up on everything. She would want to help with dishes and folding clothes at 4. There's one special time I can remember. It was like whenever I decided Jeremy is definitely the one. Me and Jeremy had been together, you know, talking, dating for about six months. And finally I thought, gonna let her meet him. She just loved him. She crawled all over him. She wanted to hold his hand as.

[Janice Wriston]

We walked through the mall.

[Guest (Friend or Supporter of Janice)]

She wanted to have him buckle her into her car seat. And we were sitting on the couch at the house, and she just turned three at this point. So I'm sitting on one side of her. He's sitting on one side of her. She scooches over close to him and.

[Janice Wriston]

Just lays her head on.

[Guest (Friend or Supporter of Janice)]

So she's got her head laying on his shoulder, and he looks down. He could see her sleepy eyes. And I had never seen this before. He took his finger and put it on her forehead and went gently down her nose and her face and would just let off right at her nose. So right there at the top of her hairline, he'd go down past her eyes, past her nose, and then let off. It wasn't five minutes later she was laying there just fully asleep, just knocked out.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

Oh, he's the baby whisperer.

[Guest (Friend or Supporter of Janice)]

Yes. He was amazing.

[Janice Wriston]

And I'm like, how did you do that?

[Guest (Friend or Supporter of Janice)]

I have to snuggle with her, and she lays on my chest, and then she pops her head up, and I.

[Janice Wriston]

Have to lay it back down.

[Guest (Friend or Supporter of Janice)]

Pops back up.

[Janice Wriston]

Lay it down. Pop up. Lay down. No, Lay down.

[Guest (Friend or Supporter of Janice)]

No.

[Janice Wriston]

Lay down.

[Guest (Friend or Supporter of Janice)]

And he sits there and just strokes her forehead for, like, five minutes, and she's out. Which, you know, he had Jacob and Halle, and he had his own experience and grew up with his family, and he. Baby whisperer.

[Janice Wriston]

No.

[Guest (Friend or Supporter of Janice)]

He won me over. He knew what really meant to me.

[Janice Wriston]

Yeah.

[Guest (Friend or Supporter of Janice)]

He knew that this is my life, this is everything to me. And never, ever once would I have ever said, you have to call him dad, even though he was her stepfather. I would have never been like, you're calling him dad. You know, I'm not going to overstep that boundary. And I feel like that's a little piece of humanity there when you have.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

That weird mindset that everything has to be your way. And, you know, Julie had to be the center of the world. I'm sure that's why she was in beauty pageants certainly wasn't because she's beautiful.

[Guest (Friend or Supporter of Janice)]

If I was dead or completely absent, okay, I can understand her needing a mom.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

But monsters, you wanted to be involved. They are the ones who took you out of the picture.

[Guest (Friend or Supporter of Janice)]

They told people in the beauty pageants and all those places that they went to that I wasn't involved in Raelee's life at all. Ever. They would tell some people it's been two years since Janice has seen Rayleigh. Or they would tell some people it's been four years since Janice has seen Rayleigh. And then they would tell other people after Raley's bio mom gave birth, she wasn't involved in Rayleigh's life at all after that.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

So easily disproven and telling all these different stories, but somehow they told them with such conviction that people believed it.

[Guest (Friend or Supporter of Janice)]

And all these pictures of Rayleigh Online, 85% of those to 90% of those are all pictures that I took. And then the other ones are the ones that Megan Maynard sent to me from Julie's camera reel. I don't know if it was Julie or Sheree that was trying to prove that Rayleigh was a happy child, but it only proved that she wasn't even hardly smiling in any of those pictures. Those pictures were a little bit scary because it didn't really look like Raeley.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

No. She had a forced smile. You could tell when she was not with you.

[Guest (Friend or Supporter of Janice)]

You could see the pain in her face.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

Different smile.

[Guest (Friend or Supporter of Janice)]

Yes. I have a lot of those pictures and I can't even bear to look at them. They're all still in my email and they're pictures with Rayleigh and all three surviving children. But the pictures of Rayleigh, see this one picture where I think they're at Summersville Lake or something and she's sitting off by herself in the sand and it just shows the back of her head and her alone on the beach. And I thought, how does that prove anything? And the ones with her smiling and so skinny. I did think at one point about them talking about her being depressed. They did yank her away from the person who loved her most in the world. Who knows what all they said about me to her. What if she felt rejected? What if she felt unloved? What if all of the beatings and the abuse and feeling trapped. How could you not be sad? I feel sad for her.

[Janice Wriston]

Why?

[Guest (Friend or Supporter of Janice)]

Nobody explained it to her. How come mom can't come this weekend?

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

Because they made up stories about it too.

[Guest (Friend or Supporter of Janice)]

Yes. Like the worst imaginable. She knew better. I can't help but think in her heart, she knew.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

Oh, yeah.

[Guest (Friend or Supporter of Janice)]

I always told her, I love you more than the whole world. And she would say, the skies, too. Sky's too. The heavens too. The heavens, too. The sun. Yes, Ray. The moon. Yes, Ray. You're my little love. Okay, Mom.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

And you didn't even have to say it. She just knew the way you were with her.

[Guest (Friend or Supporter of Janice)]

Yeah. You can see it in every picture that I took of her.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

You can. You could see how much love there is there. Mutually.

[Guest (Friend or Supporter of Janice)]

Her eyes are so bright in every picture. And her face just glows.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

Yep.

[Janice Wriston]

I have little cheeks.

[Guest (Friend or Supporter of Janice)]

She went through a little chubby spell there for a little while.

[Janice Wriston]

She so cute.

[Guest (Friend or Supporter of Janice)]

Oh, my gosh, it's adorable. I loved it when her hair had just gotten long enough to where I could put like a little ponytail holder in it. And little fountain on the top.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

I call it radish hair.

[Janice Wriston]

Yeah.

[Guest (Friend or Supporter of Janice)]

Or when she had it on the sides of her hair or the two little pigtails.

[Janice Wriston]

Two little felt, little radish hairs.

[Guest (Friend or Supporter of Janice)]

Yeah, that's exactly what it would look like, too. She had that strawberry blonde and it would just gleam. And you see why. She was my sunshine.

[Janice Wriston]

Yes.

[Guest (Friend or Supporter of Janice)]

You can see it. Her face. I mean, she knew she was sunshine. She knew that.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

There's no question that she was a special little girl. Like, there's just no question about that. But also, there's no question that she was born to the right mommy. You were meant to be hers, just like she was meant to be yours.

[Guest (Friend or Supporter of Janice)]

Thank you. Yes. I feel her with me. She is with me. She is a part of me. And I'm with her. And that's the part of me that's missing. And that's me coming to grips with that. And I've been able to acknowledge that the part of me that's gone. It's okay. It's safe. Because it's with her.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

And she'll be waiting for you.

[Guest (Friend or Supporter of Janice)]

Rayleigh showed me love and compassion and empathy. Who I am today is because of Ray. I gotta say this. I think about him and knowing here's Christmas and she's in that bedroom and she can't breathe. She's in there dying, and he's not doing nothing. Just like, why. He knew at any moment that I would have grasped her up at any moment. He could have called me at any point, any time, any day, any year. Janice, I don't think she's safe here. Will you come and get her? Janice, I don't think I can do this. Will you come and get her? No question. I would have done it at a pin drop.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

But that would have meant you won somehow.

[Guest (Friend or Supporter of Janice)]

A surrender. Yeah. It would have took a grown up to have to do that.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

Right.

[Guest (Friend or Supporter of Janice)]

To admit that he was wrong, that he could not do it.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

I hate that there are people in the world who enjoy inflicting pain and suffering and mental, physical, all of it. But they exist. And somehow three of them lived under the same roof.

[Guest (Friend or Supporter of Janice)]

I just don't understand how they just got three to 15.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

There's nothing fair about that because she.

[Guest (Friend or Supporter of Janice)]

Didn'T die by one of their swings.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

Yeah, it really wasn't fair and it wasn't enough. And I disagree respectfully with Mr. Parsons for saying this is what justice looks like because they never got charged with child abuse when there is so much evidence of it.

[Guest (Friend or Supporter of Janice)]

Right. But you know what's hard is that Parsons was up against three other attorneys.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

Yes.

[Guest (Friend or Supporter of Janice)]

And I don't think that's fair in any way.

[Janice Wriston]

No.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

I don't know why they did that.

[Guest (Friend or Supporter of Janice)]

It's not what justice looks like. And no, it didn't give me peace of mind. And no.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

No, not when you have to go to parole hearings starting three months from now.

[Guest (Friend or Supporter of Janice)]

Right. It really felt like an unfair fight. It felt so unfair. You have one attorney, One attorney is fighting for a child and everything that she suffered and went through and was tormented by these people. And this one attorney that's trying to fight with all he's got is fighting up against three other. You had one of their attorneys, I think plants. I think this person was experienced and knew exactly what to do. To him, this was probably routine. And then there was another one that was trying to make a name for himself and get a win and was just starting out in his business and he wanted to win.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

I do not understand how criminal defense attorneys do what they do. Everyone deserves an attorney and there's not everyone who's guilty, but the people who represent. I know these clearly guilty individuals. How do you sleep at night?

[Guest (Friend or Supporter of Janice)]

I asked Parsons this, this very same question. I said, Mr. Parsons, how do they do this and how do they sleep at night and how do they get by? He said, I'm going to tell you how. For the ones that have a conscience, they just try a little less.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

I do like that actually.

[Janice Wriston]

I did too.

[Guest (Friend or Supporter of Janice)]

Whenever he said that, I was like, that does make sense, you know, like if I was an attorney and I had to defend someone like them. Yeah. I don't think I would be trying very hard.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

Time for one last sponsor break.

[Chumba Casino Announcer]

How to have fun anytime, anywhere. Step one, go to Chumbacasino.com Chumbacasino.com Got it. Step two collect your welcome bonus.

[Janice Wriston]

Come to papa. Welcome bonus.

[Chumba Casino Announcer]

Step three play hundreds of casino style games for free.

[Janice Wriston]

That's a lot of games, all for free.

[Chumba Casino Announcer]

Step 4 Unleash your excitement.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

Woo hoo.

[Chumba Casino Announcer]

Chumba Casino has been delivering thrills for over a decade. So claim your free welcome bonus now and live the chumba life. Visit chumbacasino.com no purchase necessary vgw group.

[Commercial Voice (Hiba Botanica)]

Void where prohibited by law 21 + terms and conditions apply.

[Podcast Host Interviewing Dan Morgan]

I've got Dan Morgan here on the pod. Say hi Dan.

[Dan Morgan]

Hey, how's it going today?

[Podcast Host Interviewing Dan Morgan]

It's going good man. Tell us who you are and what you do.

[Dan Morgan]

I'm Dan Morgan. I'm an attorney and a managing partner at Morgan and Morgan which is America's largest injury law firm.

[Podcast Host Interviewing Dan Morgan]

That's pretty awesome. I think I saw a billboard of yours recently that said 20 billion won. 20 billion is an insane number.

[Dan Morgan]

Yeah, 20 billion recovered. It's actually I think somewhere north. Probably closer to 22, 23 after this year. And each year we get bigger and badder and our army grows, grows. So the number will hopefully keep getting bigger and bigger as time goes on.

[Podcast Host Interviewing Dan Morgan]

Awesome. So how does someone get in contact with Morgan and Morgan? What would I do if I got into an accident?

[Dan Morgan]

Probably the easiest way is dialing pound law. That's £529 from your cell phone. We are always open. Our call center is always waiting to take your call. 247365 wow.

[Podcast Host Interviewing Dan Morgan]

Dan Morgan from Morgan and Morgan, America's largest injury law firm. Thanks for coming by the show.

[Dan Morgan]

Thanks for having me. Visit forthepeople.com for an office near you.

[Guest (Friend or Supporter of Janice)]

There's no way that there could be justice in this. There just couldn't be. Stringing them up wouldn't be justice. There's no bringing Rayleigh back. And actually with a one on one talk with Parsons, he said, Janice, they can get out of this. They could get three to 15, they could get life, they could get the death penalty. But really what is it going to matter to you? Because all in all, at the end of this, there is no bringing her back. You're not going to feel what I think you're hoping to feel.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

Right?

[Guest (Friend or Supporter of Janice)]

And he was right. I didn't and I don't. And he's right. There's no fixing it. No. She could have lived till she was 90. She could have made a difference in this world because she was already wanting to be a teacher like Ms. Cilla Birdie. You could see she was already wanting to be a mother, to take care of children. She was already at the young age, she was wanting to look out for children in her situation, she was already planning it.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

She did make a difference. There's no question about that.

[Guest (Friend or Supporter of Janice)]

Yes.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

Now that people know who she was, what she went through, she has a voice now, thanks to you and you.

[Guest (Friend or Supporter of Janice)]

Thank you very much, Lane.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

I feel like I almost know her through you. I don't have the privilege of ever meeting her, but I feel like through you, I know her as best I could.

[Guest (Friend or Supporter of Janice)]

It brings a smile to my face because, you know, I have. Every time I've thought of any detail about her, I've told you, it's crazy. I have told you so much. And the hours of talking about Rayleigh, he could never fit it all in there. But as long as we got those.

[Janice Wriston]

Highlighted aspects, she was strong. She really was.

[Guest (Friend or Supporter of Janice)]

She made it through that. On the weekdays and on the weekends, she would come to my house and be full spirit, running, laughing, giggling, playing, happy. All of it was there. So even though she had the weeks of hell, she still was able to hold on to that purity and that happiness. She was strong all the way to the end. She was strong and she's strong on the other side. Pushing her voice through to delicate flu Hardy.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

Yes.

[Guest (Friend or Supporter of Janice)]

So Miss Celebrity to you, to me, and to every other soul that she can reach out to touch.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

That's what I mean. She is definitely making a difference.

[Guest (Friend or Supporter of Janice)]

I hope so. And I hope at one point Raley's Law can stretch across the country.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

It really is common sense.

[Guest (Friend or Supporter of Janice)]

Yes. And I can't help but surf through my mind of everything I must have done wrong and wishing the things that I could have done to change it.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

I know it's easy to second guess yourself way after the fact, but you did so much. We haven't even touched on everything you did in all the episodes because I don't know that we could.

[Guest (Friend or Supporter of Janice)]

No way. I was non stop. I wasn't letting up. That's why they went as far as doing what they did whenever they came in and just crashed my whole family, they thought that they were just gonna completely destroy my life in that moment.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

They just had such a vendetta against you. For what? I have no idea.

[Guest (Friend or Supporter of Janice)]

Loving my child with all I had. And they knew I loved her. God, I loved her. There would be several times they would be like, well, I don't know if we can make it to the meeting spot, it's snowing outside. And be like, that's okay. We got four wheel drive. That's how it found out where they lived was because during the wintertime, they'd come up with the excuse, oh, we can't make it out. No, I can. They did so much to try to prevent her from seeing me and me from seeing her. I just think about all the things that they said to her as to why I wasn't there. And guts me to think that I didn't get to see her for so long before she passed. And thinking in those moments when she was sick and couldn't breathe, her wanting her mommy. I know she did.

[Janice Wriston]

Yeah. Of course Anna couldn't be there.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

It was not your fault.

[Guest (Friend or Supporter of Janice)]

People tell me that I shouldn't feel that I failed and I shouldn't feel this guilt and this grief, but there's no stopping it. And because I was her mom and I should have found a way. And I wish I would have kidnapped her. I swear. Swear I do. Hindsight's 20 20, right?

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

Exactly. You cannot help your child if you're in prison for federal charges of kidnapping. You know, leaving the state. That doesn't make sense, right? I know it's. Your first thought is like, I have to do this. But you know how much he's capable of getting away with.

[Guest (Friend or Supporter of Janice)]

Yeah. He said that he was going to kill both of us. And I actually feel like he did stick to that. Because whenever he killed her, it killed me. It gutted me and shattered me and broke me to where I was in shock. It's been six years. Feels like yesterday to me. It's hard to move on as her mom. It's hard to live a normal life knowing that they took something so precious away. I want to be a good wife. I want to be the best mother.

[Janice Wriston]

But there is just a part of.

[Guest (Friend or Supporter of Janice)]

Me that's just gone that I don't know if I could get back or.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

If something else grows in its place.

[Guest (Friend or Supporter of Janice)]

Maybe if I could let something else in. I don't know.

[Janice Wriston]

Like, just like I said, I've recently.

[Guest (Friend or Supporter of Janice)]

Been able to find a little bit of peace and clarity knowing that Raley's life gave three other children a normal life. That if Raley's law is to pass, or even with Rayleigh's law being brought to awareness, maybe it makes people second guess what they do before they do it. You know, whenever I told you over the summertime, I told you, Lane, I think I'm getting there. I mean, gosh, we have talked since 2019, ever since Jeremy sent you the message, thank you for being Riley's Voice. And I sent you a message. Thank you. And you had just started the podcast and. And then I just thought, I don't know, I just started messaging you.

[Janice Wriston]

It was natural.

[Guest (Friend or Supporter of Janice)]

You just had an understanding. And with Rayleigh, I couldn't open up to just anybody. So there was a very select few that I could talk to, and you were one of them. And you have known Rayleigh's entire story all this time. And out of the respect for me and our family and Rayleigh, you have held back and waited, you know, for if I'm ready. I just know that it just happened over the summertime. I thought, I wonder if Lane would want to redo Rayleigh's story now that she's heard my side for the past five years.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

I have always wanted to redo it. It was my fourth episode because I wanted to tell her story so badly. I was like, early on, I'm doing this. But after learning a few things and gaining different perspectives, really just wanted to do it because you have to be involved. I wouldn't have done it without you. So I didn't care if we waited 20 years. I did not care. I just wanted you involved in this because there's nothing like the way you love her.

[Guest (Friend or Supporter of Janice)]

I'm so happy to be part of it because she is part of me. Marty, he was all lies. Being with him was just toxic. It was horrible. And whenever I met Jeremy and his persistence and we started our relationship on the grounds of trusting each other and spilling out nothing but truth, I mean, I believe that's what made us strong through all of it. I don't know how he.

[Janice Wriston]

Yeah.

[Guest (Friend or Supporter of Janice)]

Oh, he made it through this past six years with me being as absent minded. I've tried. I really have. Just with the loss of Rayleigh and the shock and then after the shock, the ailments that followed, I have no idea if any other grieving mothers go through that. The broken heart syndrome.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

Yours is definitely the worst that I've heard. You've been through an unbelievable amount of pain. And I mean physically, after the fact.

[Janice Wriston]

Yeah.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

You've been through so many physical ailments, it just destroyed your immune system.

[Guest (Friend or Supporter of Janice)]

Yes.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

I don't think I had any idea that it could do that.

[Janice Wriston]

Feel like I'm always on antibiotics. Yeah, I bet. And with that, I form allergies to them, like the penicillin.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

Did you get hives?

[Janice Wriston]

Hives and full on anaphylaxis.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

Oh, good. That's helpful.

[Janice Wriston]

Yeah, my whole throat closed. I swelled up so bad they couldn't find a vein. So they drilled into my shin.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

Oh, whoa.

[Janice Wriston]

When I came to, I'm like, oh my gosh. There is an IV in my leg and my jeans have been cut.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

Oh, no.

[Janice Wriston]

Okay. It's a mess. I've been through some stuff. She died. I fell apart.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

It affected everything.

[Janice Wriston]

Everything. Every aspect, every point in my life. It affected where I lived. It affected my marriage. It affected my other children. It affected my mental and physical and it affected everything. Yeah, everything. It's like it brought it all down on top of me. And you know where I was in shock. I didn't even realize what I was doing.

[Chumba Casino Announcer]

Like, how to have fun anytime, anywhere. Step one, go to chumbacasino.com chumbacasino.com Got it. Step two, collect your welcome bonus.

[Janice Wriston]

Come to papa. Welcome bonus.

[Chumba Casino Announcer]

Step three, play hundreds of casino style games for free.

[Janice Wriston]

That's a lot of games, all for free.

[Chumba Casino Announcer]

Step four, unleash your excitement. Chumba Casino has been delivering thrills for over a decade. So claim your free welcome bonus now and live the chumba life. Visit chumbacasino.com no purchase necessary vgw group.

[Commercial Voice (Hiba Botanica)]

Void where prohibited by law 21 + terms and conditions apply.

[Podcast Host Interviewing Dan Morgan]

I've got Dan Morgan here on the pod. Say hi, Dan.

[Janice Wriston]

Hey.

[Dan Morgan]

How's it going today?

[Podcast Host Interviewing Dan Morgan]

It's going good, man. Tell us who you are and what you do.

[Dan Morgan]

I'm Dan Morgan. I'm an attorney and a managing partner at Morgan and Morgan, which is America's largest injury law firm.

[Podcast Host Interviewing Dan Morgan]

That's pretty awesome. I think I saw a billboard of yours recently. It said 20 billion one. 20 billion is an insane number.

[Dan Morgan]

Yeah, 20 billion recovered. It's actually I think somewhere north. Probably closer to 22, 23 after this year. And each year we get bigger and badder and our army grows. So the number will hopefully keep getting bigger and bigger as time goes on.

[Podcast Host Interviewing Dan Morgan]

Awesome. So how does someone get in contact with Morgan and Morgan? What would I do if I got into an accident?

[Dan Morgan]

Probably the easiest way is dialing pound law. That's £529 from your cell phone. We are always open. Our call center is always waiting to take your call. 247365 wow.

[Podcast Host Interviewing Dan Morgan]

Dan Morgan from Morgan and Morgan, America's largest injury law firm. Thanks for coming. Coming by the show.

[Dan Morgan]

Thanks for having me. Visit forthepeople.com for an office near you.

[Janice Wriston]

You know, my kids need me, my husband needs me. And apparently my body is needing the attention that I'm not giving it.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

Yeah.

[Guest (Friend or Supporter of Janice)]

So yeah, every aspect family to the breaking point in June when I had a nervous breakdown in heart failure, kidney failure, and I had a stroke last year. Yes. Remember, it was after that I told you that I felt a little bit of clarity. Like, this is where this has put me. This is where Marty wanted me. Broken down till I was just nothing. I reached a moment of clarity being in the hospital in June, after that, and then I. I could feel like something inside of me, like a peak of my old self saying, snap out of it. Come on, get up. Break through. You can do this. And I don't know if it was my sunshine coming through like, mom, you gotta call an end to the grieving. It's not your fault and you have to keep moving.

[Janice Wriston]

Yeah.

[Guest (Friend or Supporter of Janice)]

And I felt myself step up for my three younger children. And I felt myself get stronger through the summer and since the stroke and the heart failure and all that happening in June, ever since, I felt like I felt as a mother, as a wife, I felt like I felt every aspect of my life. And it felt like everything broke down at that point and I felt like had to build it back up. And where the strength came from, I don't know. It really came in a very strong wave. And I'm happy to say in this past year, I have only been in the hospital the time with the stroke and I had to go another time for three days, but that's really bad. Well, let's go back to 20, 23. I was in the hospital more than 10 times and the ICU a lot. And I had a port implant in my chest so that I could receive treatments at home. I had blood transfusions. Just. It destroyed every aspect of my life. So he probably would have wanted that. And I am very happy to say that I have put everything back the way it needs to be.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

That's awesome.

[Guest (Friend or Supporter of Janice)]

And I do want to speak and be Raelee's voice and I do want her story out there.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

She deserves that and so do you.

[Guest (Friend or Supporter of Janice)]

Yes. Our conversation has been relieving alleviating a little bit better just knowing it's out there.

[Lane (Podcast Host)]

Thank you all for listening to this lengthy four part series. I know it was a lot to get through. It's been an especially tough series of episodes for me too. I first wrote about Rayleigh over five years ago and she's been in my heart ever since. I've talked with Janice so much that, like I told her, I feel like I know Rayleigh through her and it's impossible not to take every detail to heart. Everything about Rayleigh's story is infuriating, heartbreaking. And unfair, including the fact that because of the killer's paltry three to 15 year sentences, Janice has to prepare to attend parole hearings this year. Marty Lee Browning Jr. Is scheduled for his first parole hearing on May 26, 2025. His projected release date is listed on the West Virginia Department of corrections website as November 24, 2029, although I hope the parole board, after learning about Rayleigh's story, decides he needs to spend every minute of his maximum sentence behind bars. The same sentiment applies to both Julie Browning and Cherie Titchenell, who are both scheduled for parole hearings on June 9th of this year. Their projected release date shows as December 8th, 2029. I've promised Janice that someday we will meet in person. I will give her the biggest hug in human history, and I'd love to pay my respects to Rayleigh at Janice's family cemetery. Rest well, Raelee Jolynn Browning. Keep shining your beautiful light over your mama and your family. Don't forget to check out Magic Mind and use my discount code. I'll include the link in the show notes. Visit magicmind.com lane20 and use discount code lane20. That's it for this episode. Join me next time for another Child's Story. If you like the show, please follow or subscribe to Suffer the Little Children on Apple podcasts, Google Podcasts, YouTube, Spotify, Spreaker, Pandora, iHeartRadio, Stitcher, or your favorite podcast listening app. And please leave me a five star rating and a positive review on your favorite podcast platform. Visit the website at sufferthelittlechildrenpod.com you can support the show by visiting patreon.com stlcpod where you can become a patron for rewards ranging from a shout out by name on the show to exclusive gifts. You can also support the show at ko-fi.com stlcpod Follow the podcast on Facebook and Instagram, @sephirothelittle children podcast and on TikTok tlcpod. View photos Related to today's episode on Facebook. This podcast is researched, written, hosted, edited and produced by Lane. Intro theme music is by Dream Note Music and all music for the show is licensed from audiojungle.net for more information about preventing or reporting Child Abuse, visit childhelp.org or call your area's Child Abuse Hotline. And remember, if you see something, say something.

[Commercial Voice (Hiba Botanica)]

If you're a label reader, this one's for you because your skin deserves more than empty promises. At hiba Botanica, every formula is made in house in small batches using organic, truly non toxic ingredients plastic free packaging, clean, effective botanicals and safe for all skin types, even acne prone. No green washing, no filler, just skincare that's gentle, non comedogenic and designed with intention. Hiba Botanica Non toxic plastic free, always safe for your skin. Shop [e-mail] that's extra.