"Imagine spending your life raising your son, teaching him to look both ways, to take his medicine, and to buckle up. You do all this to keep him safe, because his life is more precious than anything. You watch him grow up to be a kind, loving, and caring young man, and your heart knows that so many people love him. Then one day, you suddenly realize, everything you did was all for nothing, because on that day, some one else decides, your son doesn't get to live.
I am supposed to help you understand what it did to me, for James to be murdered, but I really don't think I can. As hard as others try, no one will ever understand what it's like to lose a son this way. My love for James is endless and so is my grief. I guess what I am asking you to do, is try to imagine that James was your son.
Every morning, I wake up and hope this is all just a horrible nightmare, the worst I've ever had. I wish I could just close my eyes and pray, and maybe, if I pray hard enough, some of this pain would disappear, but it doesn't. I wake up to a world that just doesn't understand the pain of losing James, and not one day goes by that I don't think about being the mom of a murdered son, and it slowly kills me.
I always thought that being James' mom was a hard job, some times he made it really tough, but I had no idea, what not being James' mom would feel like. No heart, deserves this pain.
The publicity surrounding James' murder has taken over my life. I used to be a very private person; what people thought and said, used to mean a lot to me, but not anymore. One of the hardest things that I have had to do is talk to the media about my son's murder, about all the lies that surround this case, and about my pain and sorrow, can you even imagine having to do that?
My family's life has been torn apart. My loved ones still hope, that some day I will heal from this, but I know I never will. My heart is still there, but it isn't whole any more.
James spent his last Christmas with the Walker family, with the man who murdered him, this will always haunt me.
The boy I raised will never get the chance to be the man I always knew he could be, because that chance was taken away from James, forever. Now, I worry even more about my other son Daniel, and about his choices in life; because I know, no one is ever safe, and everything can change in an instant.
If there is one thing I can tell you, it is if you think this could never happen in your family, you are wrong. I never dreamt that such a terrible thing could happen to my family. Now I know, it only takes one action, one moment, for another person, to destroy the lives of everyone you love.
This murder trial is not about an angry father murdering his daughter's boyfriend; it is about Kim Walker taking away James, our James forever and totally devastating everyone who loved him.
We are James' parents, his brother Danny, his sisters Alana and Kendra, his grandparents, and so many aunts, uncles, and cousins.
James had endless friends, because he cared so much about every one, and he always made them feel like they were his best friend; James loved his dog Champ, and Kristy, the girl he was supposed to marry we all suffer, we are all victims of this crime, and we will all love and grieve for James, until we die."
Lorrie Getty
