Murder in Austin Texas
LuraLee Smith
Mrs. Collar
English 1301
17 September 2011
Murder in Austin Texas
It has been five years today that my cousin Stacy Lynn Sparks was murdered. I always thought that something like this could never happen to my family. This is the first time that something so tragic has happened in my life. It will also lead me to pain and frustration years to come. The loss of her has had a great impact on how I live my life today.
I can still remember the sound in my mother’s voice the day she called to tell me that Stacy had been shot. She asked me if I was sitting down. The words that came through the phone were slow and piercing as if a tape recorder had been put on slow play back. Comprehending what was being said to me felt like ten minutes, the longest ten minutes of my life. Stacy had actually been dead for a couple of days before our family was notified because the police did not know who she was. When it appeared on the Austin News my other cousin who lived in Austin saw it but never knew that it was her own family. Out of sheer disbelief and denial I searched online for all the Austin news websites. I came upon Stacy’s picture along with Christopher Chon Scott’s photo the man who shot and killed her. For hours upon hours and days upon days this man’s picture was all I could look at. For months to come this had consumed my life. I read and reread the articles in the papers. I watched the news feed over and over again. I thought of nothing else but her and her killer.
It was not until October 2007 I would finally get to come face to face with the man who stole my cousin from us. Stacy’s brother Randy and his wife was at the first day of trial. My brother and I were there for every day after. We were told prior to being there that there would be very graphic pictures shown at the trial that we might not want to see. There would be videos and people talking about our cousin as if she were nothing more than a prostitute. Some things would be
Mrs. Collar
English 1301
17 September 2011
Murder in Austin Texas
It has been five years today that my cousin Stacy Lynn Sparks was murdered. I always thought that something like this could never happen to my family. This is the first time that something so tragic has happened in my life. It will also lead me to pain and frustration years to come. The loss of her has had a great impact on how I live my life today.
I can still remember the sound in my mother’s voice the day she called to tell me that Stacy had been shot. She asked me if I was sitting down. The words that came through the phone were slow and piercing as if a tape recorder had been put on slow play back. Comprehending what was being said to me felt like ten minutes, the longest ten minutes of my life. Stacy had actually been dead for a couple of days before our family was notified because the police did not know who she was. When it appeared on the Austin News my other cousin who lived in Austin saw it but never knew that it was her own family. Out of sheer disbelief and denial I searched online for all the Austin news websites. I came upon Stacy’s picture along with Christopher Chon Scott’s photo the man who shot and killed her. For hours upon hours and days upon days this man’s picture was all I could look at. For months to come this had consumed my life. I read and reread the articles in the papers. I watched the news feed over and over again. I thought of nothing else but her and her killer.
It was not until October 2007 I would finally get to come face to face with the man who stole my cousin from us. Stacy’s brother Randy and his wife was at the first day of trial. My brother and I were there for every day after. We were told prior to being there that there would be very graphic pictures shown at the trial that we might not want to see. There would be videos and people talking about our cousin as if she were nothing more than a prostitute. Some things would be