A Web Of Lies: The Murder Of Erica Parsons

[Music] breaking news Justice today for a murdered young girl almost exactly 6 years after she was reported missing admitted to killing the little girl life with no possibility of parole in that murder you stood in front of cameras in 2013 and lied you stood in front of cameras in 2016 and Li are you in fact guilty yes the 30th of July 2013 Rowan County North Carolina in the United States of America a young man and his uncle walked into a police station Jamie Parsons was there to report his little sister Erica missing but this was

not a recent disappearance Erica hadn't been seen in almost 2 years he last saw her in November 2011 his uncle Scott was with him and said that he had heard various stories about where Erica was but he hadn't seen her either a young girl described as quiet and shy who was 13 years old when she was last seen had been gone for that long and up until now had not been reported missing on the 24th of February 1998 Carolin Parsons gave birth to a baby girl named Erica not long after Erica's aunt and uncle Casey

and Sandy Parsons parents of other children including Jamie would adopt her when jaie talked to the officers he said he had asked his parents where she was and why she wasn't at the house on Miller Chapel Road they explained that they had taken her to Asheville where her biological Grandmother Had lived a woman called Irene Goodman known as Nan this story was bizarre but as he continued to talk a very disturbing picture was being painted Jamie said that his parents had been both physically and mentally abusive towards Erica constantly not only that but even after

she had gone missing Sandy and Casey had continued to receive checks on Erica's behalf totaling around 6 $100 a month even though she was no longer at the property the next thing for the officers to do was to speak to Sandy and Casey Parsons they both vehemently denied ja's story of them being abusive they said he had been told to move out of the house after a fight with his mother and he had made it up as a result they were adant that in 2011 Erica had gone to live with her biological grandmother in Asheville

they said that Brooke their biological daughter had gone with them this wasn't what Brooke told the investigators she said she hadn't gone with them what on Earth was the truth and more importantly where was Erica Casey told the investigators she had contacted Nan Goodman via Facebook but was not able to give them any current contact information for her even though she was allegedly caring for a child that Casey was the legal guardian of she also couldn't show them her Facebook page the more the investigators dug the weirder it all became Erica's biological grandmother had actually

died in 200 5 this was more than 8 years before she was reported missing and more than 6 years since she was last seen by anybody investigators would late to say that this Nan didn't actually exist at all Carolyn Erica's biological mother said that Erica had no biological relatives living in that area the lawyer who was representing Sandy and Casey at the time then hinted that Carolyn should know how to find the missing child Nan came to Casey and Sandy through Carolyn that's who brought Nan to them and probably knows who Nan is but Carolyn

hit back at these claims Nan and Irene don't exist the only two people that know the truth are the only two people that won't give the truth she said Casey Would later say that she had been tricked and that the woman Erica had been taken to live with was an impostor this extremely unusual story was getting weirder and weirder by the day and nobody knew what the truth was the day after Erica was reported missing the two youngest children were removed from the home and just a few a few days later on the 6th of

August 2013 the Rowan County Sheriff's Office said that Casey and Sandy were being uncooperative with the investigation 6 days later Carolyn returned from New Orleans to talk to the police she later said that she had received updates about Erica via Facebook but hadn't seen her since the 5th of January 2011 I think about the visitation pretty much all the time it plays over and over and over again in my mind she said my whole body just went numb I mean as a parent as a person as an individual as a family remember I just keep

hoping and praying that she's alive somewhere that she's out there somewhere that one of these days she's going to come forward as the searches were carried out 2 weeks after Erica was reported as missing the street was closed off one neighbor told news reporters one police officer showed up and the next thing you know there was probably 25 or 30 cars there they're walking around the house the backyard of the family home was looked at multiple times but nothing of note or interest was found a month after Jamie had reported her as missing the FBI

were drafted in to help in the search with local law enforcement and searches were conducted several times of the family home the search warrants that had been returned in August 2013 revealed that dozens of items had been taken from the house which included a plastic bag with Jean Benet Ramsey magazines and a jean Benet Ramsey book with notes inside about remodeling a house Jean Benet Ramsey was of course a 6-year-old girl found murdered in her own home on Christmas day in 1996 it is a case that remains unsolved and continues to be discussed and talked

about today the search warrant also said that a section of drywall from the closet had been cut out and removed as there were red stains on it the baseboards from the closet have been removed and sent off for testing a pair of jeans also with red stains were taken out of the house a week after the search another set of search warrants were released after they had looked into a storage building owned by Sandy moved from here were pieces of a vacuum cleaner a videotape school records a hammer and teeth these search warrants referred to

the original search saying during that search investigators failed to locate any evidence of Erica Parson's still living here or any evidence that her room or personal living area remained in the home the police said that the evidence that was found all indicated to Casey and Sandy knowing that Erica was not going to be coming back another area that needed to be looked into was the allegation that Casey and Sandy had continued to receive money for Erica even though she wasn't living with them officials applied for a warrant relating to the finances in the application for

the warrant it stated it is believed that the continued desire to utilize the funds proceeds or financial assistance intended for the care or benefit of ericm Parsons resulted in the delay or outright denial to report ericm Parsons as missing in a timely manner one thing was clear the family had definitely been receiving money for Erica and this financial aspect needed to be looked into more closely working with the FBI investigators were able to track down the bank accounts used by Sandy and Casey these were held with Wells Fargo Bank of America and sunrust Bank Erica

was adopted through public adoption and she had additional needs so the family were eligible to receive more than $600 a month from the Department of Social Services in order to care for her the lawyer for the couple said they could continue to receive the payments as they were Erica's legal Guardians and caregivers but why hadn't they alerted the police the attorney said that Casey and Sandy did not consider Erica to be missing as they had left her with her [Music] grandmother whenever Casey and Sandy went before the media or were interviewed the police would watch

them and listen to what they said closely there was one thing that immediately caught their attention they would refer to Erica in the past tense in contrast when Carolyn was interviewed she referred to Erica in the present tense in an interview she did on the 5th of August with WBTV she said she is my biological daughter I wanted to know that I do still love her but the couple were sticking to their story Sandy Parson said there's been sightings I've had family members call me recently and say there was a sighting at a rest stop

we asked why didn't you call the cops don't wait and call us call the cops the only thing I want right now is Erica to call home tell us she's safe and get my two babies nobody realizes that there's two small kids involved in this that do want to come home here he was referring to the two youngest children who had been removed from the home the day after Erica was reported missing Casey and Sandy fought to regain custody of the two children and they were scheduled to meet with workers from the Department of Social

Services and later that month the judge was going to determine if they would be allowed to return home when looking into the background of the couple it emerged they had been looked at and found family members had called the Department of Social Services also known as DSS before in March 2002 DSS investigated allegations of abuse towards Erica they found nothing and said that she did not appear to be afraid of them investigators had now spoken to a lot of people including members of the family but Casey was having none of it my family is all

lying my mom told my kids to say all that stuff she told investigators the lawyer for the family said the allegation should not be taken as fact the couple were doing everything to try and find Erica adding that family members were inventing stories Casey Parsons had homeschooled the children and officials at the North Carolina Department of non-public education said that standardized test results and attendance records were submitted for the children but couldn't confirm if Erica's documents had been included when asked about this story about Erica allegedly living with her biological grandmother Casey said she had

been contacted by this woman on Facebook but the account was later deactivated the mobile number for this woman had also been disconnected the couple even made an appearance on the Dr Phil show and Casey Would later tell him that they never went to the house but saw photographs of it Casey also told a reporter that they had let Erica visit This Woman's home and ultimately Erica didn't want to come back at one point Casey even found a girl on social media that shared the same name as Erica and told the Rowan County Department of Social

Services that this was their child and that she lived in green bro there were so many stories but not one of them was making sense investigators scoured various databases looking for someone using Erica's social security number or someone that might have got a driver's license in her name or any other ID but they never found anything according to statements made by Casey Erica met Carolyn at a waterburger in 2011 and according to Carolyn after this Casey said that Erica didn't want to see her anymore this case had clearly affected the Community very deeply and on

the 23rd of August neighbors held a vigil outside the home praying for any good news of Erica's whereabouts Billboards were put up around the area and on the 26th of August Casey and Sandy were interviewed Again by the FBI the following day Casey and Sandy packed up a truck and moved out of the area reportedly to get away from the intense media interest when speaking to Sand's step father he said Sandy would visit a couple of times a year only occasionally having Erica with him his step stepdad said he hadn't seen her since either 2008

or 2009 this was not only a bizarre case but an extremely complex one a vulnerable young girl and apparently nobody had any clue where she was but there was one thing that the investigators did know people do not just [Music] vanish Carolyn held many V for Erica saying I figure the more places we have vigils the more we can get Erica's name story and face out there on the 16th of January 2014 a judge ordered that the children who had been removed were not to go back to their parents but instead stay with their aunt

the children were later removed from the custodial home after what was referred to as major behavioral issues as investigations continued there was still no solid evidence relating to Erica's whereabouts on the 30th of January 2014 the FBI offered a $25,000 reward alongside the reward offered by the Rowan County Sheriff's Office Sheriff Orton said that prevent child abuse Rowan had added $5,000 to the reward as [Music] well it had now been nearly a year since Erica was reported missing and there was finally a new development federal agents with guns drawn had kicked down the Parson's door

Casey and Sandy Parsons were arrested and charged in fville North Carolina with 76 counts allegedly committed between February 2010 and August 2013 the counts included theft of government funds mail fraud tax fraud conspiracy to defraud the government and identity theft the pair had allegedly received money from the government for adoption assistance Medicaid Social Security and food and nutrition services for a dependent who was not living with them it was also alleged that Casey had fraudulently used the identities of other people as dependents and submitted false information when prepping for federal tax returns while they waited

to go on trial for the 76 counts of theft and fraud they were monitored closely by law enforcement electronic monitoring systems were fitted to them and they were required to meet periodically with a pre-trial officer assigned to them one of the conditions of their release was that they had to remain in eastern North Carolina and not break any laws and soon the trial would start as part of the fraud trial a judge listened to various members of the family including Jamie Casey and Casey's sister Robin the scope of the trial would be wide reaching and

the details of what Erica had allegedly endured would come to light Casey's sister Robin testified that she had been asked to watch Erica for a few months so Casey wouldn't kill her she added that Erica often had many marks and bruises and that Casey couldn't stand the sight of Erica's face Jamie would add to these disturbing details saying that Erica would be banned from using the bathroom forced to eat dog food or food from the trash she would be starved had to drink water from a dog bowl or the bathroom sink excluded from family activities

and have her fingers broken deliberately she would be locked in the closet and if she went to the bathroom in there out of desperation she would be punished severely Erica was not allowed to sleep in a bed she had never even owned one she was forced to sleep on the floor Jamie said there was even a time when Casey had put Erica's hand on a hot stove and burned her he said that he and the other children had also partaken in the abuse against her from when she was 5 years old to when he was

16 he said he once even broke her arm before deciding not to hit her again his sibling Brooke told the detective that her mother had got the children to go to Walmart for first aid supplies so that a makeshift cast could be made for Erica's arm they did this rather than taking her to get proper medical attention for a serious and painful injury family members said in statements that her arm showed signs of never having healed properly on the witness stand Jamie said that his mother had told his siblings sad and Toby that they should

pull Erica's hair if she didn't want to play with them jimie said Casey would encourage the children to abuse Erica and that he often saw her mother beat her she would beat her with a belt if she didn't listen he said he added that Sandy would punch Erica on the top of her head Jamie testified that Erica actually had a bald spot on her head from where wounds had formed and healed from being hit 12-year-old Sadie the couple's Young EST said she would try and sneak food to Erica she said that Erica was locked in

the closet in either her mother's bathroom or Brook's room she added that on one occasion Casey had choked Erica to the point that she couldn't breathe if Erica was given a gift as soon as whoever had given it to her had gone her present was given to either her brother Toby or sister sad in a statement read by the district attorney Sandy had once said that nobody would find Erica as Casey was smarter than the FBI the disturbing details just kept coming in the week before she was last seen her siblings said that Erica had

sunken eyes she appeared to be gray and weak with open oozing wounds Jamie said the last time he saw her she looked like a zombie she said she didn't feel good and couldn't breathe properly Jamie said his mother's response was saying I don't care get back in theing corner the next day Jamie said his parents weren't home when he woke up and they didn't come home till later in the day he said when they got back Sandy was quiet and looked like he was about to throw up whereas Casey looked normal when he asked where

his sister was they said she was at her grandmother's prosecutor Anand Ras Swami spoke of ja's testimony and then said Erica is no longer alive there is an agreement between Casey Parsons and her husband to not report the death Sand's lawyer hit back saying that bad parenting didn't equate to criminal conduct a lot of this relies on the testimony of Jamie Parsons the lawyer said Jamie explained that he had spoken to his maternal grandmother Shirley in Fe feary 2013 saying he hadn't seen Erica for a while it would be 5 months before the missing person's

report was filed by him this strange case continued to get more confusing as Sand's Brother Scott would tell investigators that Jamie was a compulsive liar Shirley Casey's mother said the last time she saw Erica was around the holidays in 2011 she said that when Erica was 6 years old she had seen bruises on her bottom and a black eye she said that Casey had blamed it on Jamie she said that she and her husband James had wondered if Casey was being abusive but brushed it off in a statement she said she had once seen Erica

be choked by Casey James then grabbed her arm and quote fussed at their daughter before they became upset and soon left she also noted that Erica's hands showed signs of injuries backing what Jamie had said about his mother bending Erica's fingers back to stop her from getting out of line Robin also observed Erica's crooked fingers and suspected that they may have been broken Casey said that it was arthritis Robin testified that Casey had beaten Erica often and forced her to stand in a corner and pictures were shown as evidence of this documenting her standing in

the corner on five separate occasions this heartbreaking picture continued to get worse when Erica was younger she had called Casey and Sandy mom and dad but Casey told her she didn't like it and to never call her mom again Erica was told to call them Casey and Sandy Janet s's stepmother spoke about a time when the family went on a beach vacation Erica was left behind she said said that Erica had been told not to tell anybody she was there and that she had to hide William Janet's husband and s's father found Erica at home

by herself I always thought Erica was not treated as kindly as the others Janet said although this trial was not about Erica's disappearance it was about the fraud charges all of this evidence was painting a dark and damning picture and yet more witnesses would come forward to testify about this in 20 a woman called Amy Miller and her husband had hired Casey to act as a surrogate for her having met her through a surrogacy website she just seemed like the perfect person to carry our baby she just seemed very wholesome very downto Earth very religious

the fact that she adopted Erica to keep her in the family I thought that was a real you know that was admirable is what I thought she added that Casey often spoke of Erica they agreed to pay Casey $10,000 in monthly installments payments that Casey said should be donated to her church as a charitable contribution but Casey also said that she needed a washer and a dryer so the first payment and subsequent ones went to her Casey later told Amy that the baby she had been carrying had died she changed her phone number she changed

her email she told me I needed to get a life I had no business having a child Casey hadn't lost the baby the baby was born safe and well the Parsons tried to sell the baby to Robin for $110,000 saying that the Millers no longer wanted the baby robin went online and found Amy who subsequently got law enforcement involved and was able to get their child back she went from a loving kind woman to a terrible vicious person Amy said I just know how manipulating they are I know what they put my family through which

was just pure hell Casey Would later plead guilty to five counts of male fraud one count of aggravated identity theft one count of conspiracy to defraud the government four counts of wire fraud and four counts of aiding in the preparation of a false tax return she received a sentence of 120 months in prison 3 years supervised release $ 41,817 in restitution and a special assessment of $1,500 Sandy was later found guilty of 20 counts of theft of government funds 20 counts of male fraud one count of aggravated ID theft one count of false statement given

to the government agent and one count of conspiracy to defraud the government the jury had deliberated for less than 5 hours to find him guilty of 43 counts he was sentenced to 96 months in prison 3 years supervised release $1,624 300 given everything that had come out during the trial especially about what Erica had been through the judge made it clear in the sentencing remarks that the evidence to suggest that Erica was no longer alive was overwhelming you and your husband did something horrible horrible with her I have sentenced close to 1,000 people I can't

think of a case that has troubled me more you embraced a plan to get rid of her you covered up your evil act you are morally bankrupt the judge told Casey he also said that he would accept almost all of the statements and testimony about the abuse Erica had suffered saying that what family members had said was credible he also said he found what Witnesses from the government institutions had said was also incredible and honest and that the nature of the offenses is Sinister he said that the story Erica was with this mystery Nan was

a poorly concocted deliberate falsehood he said that Erica was a defenseless little girl who only wanted to be loved I have sentenced thousands of people over the years he told the couple but no case I've ever had is as disturbing as this one after being sentenced for the fraud charges Casey's sister Robin told WBTV I wish she would have got more but I think it's more than I thought she would get so I'm happy happy in a way I feel this is Justice for Erica if they're not going to be charged with murder which I

think they should I feel it's Justice for Erica in a way I mean not complete Justice I think she deserves more 10 years for one 12 years for the other um even though he says he has no reasons to believe my child to be alive I will go ahead as hard as this is for me to say I have not not made any inclinations one way or the other since this report came out my heart my gut and my soul tell me my child is no longer alive but I want media everybody who supports loves

and praise for Erica myself to understand that does not mean I give up that does not mean I quit searching that does not mean that I want anybody to give up until there is a body until the DNA or whatever for sure comes from the FBI that she is passed away don't give up looking don't give up praying don't give up hope after the sentencing was finished Casey's Mom Shirley said that she didn't think that the testimony relating to Erica should have been allowed to play a part during the sentencing I don't think he should

have done anything about the sentencing with Erica until there was some kind of proof that something happened to Erica besides jie she said ja would later recant his allegations of abuse saying that whilst he was worried about his sister he hadn't actually witnessed anything happening to Erica this was another strange turn in an even stranger case Sandy would later appeal to get his sentence reduced but the US Supreme Court denied it and Casey also filed an appeal against her sentence which the fourth circuit dismissed those searching for Erica were not not going to give up

two local residents shanon moss and W Rogers contacted canine specialities run by a man in Illinois who use dogs to search for the missing we don't want people to forget she's still missing she's not been found we've got to find her whatever we got to do we've got to come together in Rowan County and find her W said I didn't know her but I do now so it's personal she's got to be found she's a human being if something really bad happened to her she's been thrown away like a piece of trash and she's not

a piece of trash she's a little girl she deserves to be found and I'm not giving up Robert T Larson headed to Rowan County and organized various searches with his dogs these people have come together and put every ounce of energy they have into this weekend to try and find Erica if I was going to work with anybody it would be these people he said the Searchers were not part of the law enforcement efforts but they were notified that the searches would be carried out sadly nothing would be found we don't just look for a

dead Erica we look for an alive Erica too we are not giving up we check everything we can wander emphasized the Roman County Sheriff's Office got in touch with the national Center for missing and exploited children and requested an age progressed image of Erica which was soon released hoping it would spark a memory in someone who may have seen her recently if by the slimmest of chances she was still alive it had now been 5 years since Erica was reported missing May 2016 Brooke casy and Sand's oldest daughter agreed to talk to the FBI she

had up until that point been backing her parents what she had to say was truly sickening she said that on one occasion her mother had forced Erica to stand outside on a hot day with no shoes until her feet had blistered she said that her skin didn't look normal and she had open wounds all over her body body a few months later Brooke visited her dad in prison and finally there would be a break in the case that investigators have been searching for Sandy said he would help the police find Erica the 27th of September

2016 Rowan County Sheriff Kevin Orton said that following a dialogue with Sandy they had been able to find what they were looking for he said that Casey had told him that on the 17th of December 2011 Erica had taken her own life he said that they had poured bleach on her body to mask the smell before putting her body into plastic bags and a storage tote later that day they went to a holiday party the next day December 18th Sandy said the couple went to pageand South Carolina where he began to dig a hole they

took her remains out of the storage container Casey removed her clothes and little Erica was buried in a shallow grave he said they discarded the tote and her clothes he said that his wife had told him to let her handle the Nan Story the skeletal human remains of Erica Parsons were discovered on Tuesday La enforcement sources telling our NBC affiliate WCNC that her remains were found in Chesterfield County South Carolina some 40 mes southeast of Charlotte now Erica was last seen in 2011 when she was just 13 years old but family didn't report her missing

until 2013 nearly a year and a half later Sandy pointed at a part of forest ground it was here buried in a shallow grave the remains of Erica Parsons were finally found that day in South Carolina was tough on all of us Sheriff Orton said I saw some pretty tough cops take it pretty rough the guards that were with him took him into the woods and within a minute they were coming back out and he was crying when he came back out County Sheriff J Brook said Erica's family visited the site and many broke down

in tears Teresa Goodman Erica's aunt said that officials had struck a deal with Sandy and that she and a private investigator had had searched the area before but had not found anything I'm grateful that the family that did care about her has some sort of closure the sheriff of Rowan County certainly deserves all the credit in the world they've worked thousands and thousands of man hours on this case Sheriff Brook said it can't help but make you really step back and think as soon as you get through here call your kids he added December 2016

detective Chad moose was contacted by none of than Casey Parsons she had something she wanted to tell him she said that Erica had said she had wanted to die and then she later found her lying on the living room floor on a comforter Casey said she rolled her over but Erica didn't move she said Erica had taken her own life this story would lay to have different versions of exactly how Erica had allegedly taken her own life she explained that they put her remains into the tote and Sandy told her to pour bleach over the

body debit card records for Casey showed that the bleach had been purchased in a Walmart on the 5th of December she also admitted to bending Erica's fingers back but denied breaking them it would be a couple of years before she would later admit that some of Erica's fingers may have been broken she admitted to beating Erica with a belt buckle she said she was too scared to take Erica to get medical attention because she was worried her sister Robin would get Social Services involved the 25th of February 2017 at the First Baptist Church family strangers

and police arrived for Erica's Funeral Service the day before would have been her birthday nearly a year after her remains were released the findings of the autopsy were made public Sheriff Orton had previously said that they were going to wait for the results of the autopsy before charges were filed and when the results came back they painted a grim and devastating picture the autopsy said that she had died as a result of homicidal violence of undetermined means it revealed she had fractures in various stages of the healing process in her upper right arm the bone

connecting the arm to the collarbone a finger her jaw her nose the left shinbone and seven ribs some of which had been broken more than once she had signs of spine abider aulta she was malnourished it was suggested she had low bone density and a growth deficit one of her teeth was missing and there were signs that some of her teeth had been broken it was also possible she was suffering from renal failure and treated sepsis or infection or even poisoning given the history of physical abuse and the signs of physical abuse present at autopsy

we cannot exclude the possibility of a terminal blunt force injury Suffocation or strangulation a medical examiner wrote in the report she had also been dismembered whil Caroline said that she was thankful Erica had finally been found after Sandy had revealed where she was it didn't mean that he bore no guilt or that he was absolved he stood behind her and supported every lie that came out of her mouth Carolyn said the 20th of February 2018 we've learned her adopted parents Sandy and Casey Parsons will be charged with first-degree murder the Parsons have always denied they

had anything to do with The Disappearance of the little girl Sheriff Kevin auton who announced the indictments here today said there were times during the investigation he thought this day would never come but he did because he said investigators never gave up we just did not want to leave a little girl out there we wanted to bring her home now the Parsons will be brought back to Salsbury to face charges in her death there are people that uh think the Parson should have already been hung on the Square and U you know they'll have their

day in court and we'll let the the jury decide their FA both Sandy and Casey pass were charged with first-degree murder felony child abuse inflicting Serious injury felony concealment of death and felony obstruction of justice according to the indictment Casey and Sandy did knowingly and willfully dismember and Destroy human remains of Erica Lyn Parsons by any means including removing body parts and otherwise obliterating any portion thereof as Sheriff Orton said it weighed on everybody I've been here 30 years and some of my investigators have been here a long time and we felt like if we

did not find her and get these folks charged eventually then we were failures in our whole career this case has weighed on us pretty heavy we're very proud to be where we are today Sheriff Orton said it's a difficult case at times we had a lot of Hope we'd find Erica then we'd have hope we'd find her remains and now we're just ready to move on with the prosecution it's been a long time coming you know we wanted to make sure the eyes were dotted and the teas were crossed he added he said he was

pleased that the charges were in time for what would have been Erica's 20th birthday all right well in other news this afternoon the adoptive parents of a North Carolina teen found dead years after being reported missing well they will have separate trials Sandy and Casey Parsons face multiple charges including first degree murder their 13-year-old daughter Erica was last seen in 2011 but she was not reported missing for another 2 years Sandy Parson's LED authorities to that girl's body in South Carolina in 2016 Casey Parson is set to stand trial in April of 2020 a trial

date for his wife has not yet been set today should have been Erica Aly Parson's 21st birthday instead her biological family gathered at her grave site in China Grove Erica Parsons allegedly murdered by her adopted parents back in 2011 now they both sit in jail waiting for their trials a lot has happened in the past year in this case and the family says that makes today a little different than years past happy birthday to you it's a milestone for almost everyone your 21st birthday but for little Erica Parson she'll never get to experience that I

should be getting off work going home getting dressed taking my sister out for her very first drink Sunday afternoon family and friends gathered here to place Flowers and Gifts I cried all the way up here for Erica's biolog olical mother Carolyn she says this birthday is a little different considering what we've seen happen in the past year the fact that a court date was set for Casey even though it's in 2020 has a huge impact on how I feel about things being done a trial date was set this month for Casey Parsons Casey and Sandy

Parsons Erica's adoptive parents are both charged in the child's death and could face the death penalty if found guilty and the two main family members are sitting where they deserve to be I hope for the rest of their lives but those two were not the focus today Erica is everybody's Angel Erica is everybody's story Erica's life and story have traveled across the nation impacting some that never even met the little girl as long as we're breathing Erica is never going to be forgotten again for the family this date is difficult every year Miss Erica's day

and she deserves every bit this and more and as they wait for justice they tell me they feel Erica's presence often not just here at her grave but she's not here you can spend time with her wherever you are wherever you're going Carolyn said she initially wanted them to face capital punishment but then changed her mind she wanted them to live out every day of the rest of their lives in prison she added that she thought they were evil and called them monsters are you in fact guilty yes Casey Parsons the adopted mother of Erica

Parsons admitted to killing the little girl she'll now spend the rest of her life Behind Bars Casey Parsons pleaded guilty to charges of first-degree murder and felony child abuse he has so much emotion inside of that courtroom today as Casey Parsons admitted that she is guilty of abusing and then murdering her adopted daughter Erica Parsons now of course this admission is shocking since Erica Parsons was reported missing in 2012 Casey and her husband Sandy have denied having anything to do with that disappearance at this point it appears that Sandy Parsons will still have to stand

trial for the charges against him we're going to get much more information from the district attorney inside right now and we'll bring you the latest later back to you on the 2nd of August 2019 Casey Parsons entered a plea of guilty to child abuse and Murder She was sentenced to life in prison with no possibility of Paro I can't tell you why I don't know why I did stuff I did I'm very sorry after years of denial casy Parsons openly admitted she abused then murdered her adopted daughter Erica Parsons I didn't have a steady home

I didn't have a steady job had I know then what I know now I would have risked I would have took her different places every night today prosecutors shared testimony from Erica's sibling who said Erica was choked beaten and neglected by Casey and Sandy Erica always smelled bad that his mom didn't let her take a bath Erica had a lot cuts and Brees and black eyes from mom hitting her Casey offered an apology before the judge sentenced her to life in prison with no parole on that murder charge and I want to say I'm sorry

to God and to Erica she also admitted that many family members reached out to her trying to help her with Erica but she says she pushed them away and eventually murdered that little girl that she was supposed to protect she said family members tried to step in and protect Erica my parents and my sister reached out to me numerous times to help me numerous um I pushed them back I would lie constantly to him she also received consecutive sentences for charges of felony concealment of death felony child abuse inflicting serious bodily harm and felony obstruction

of justice these sentences were a combined total of 23 years my my name is Carolyn Parsons I am Erica Lynn Parson biological mother I've said all along that Casey deserved life in prison versus the death sentence I still 100% agree with that because their life in prison living her life in prison living will be worse than any death sentence she could ever get I know as far as having her other children participate I just cannot seem to understand how I don't know why but she did the one thing I wanted her to do she at

least said something I don't know that I believe that she is sorry I don't know that I believe that I didn't mean to some of it I had heard some of it I hadn't heard I still completely believe that Casey Stone Parsons has no heart she has no soul she is a body that is just there she is a individual who just functions the only thing Casey gets is what Erica doesn't she gets to live but in return for living she will probably be in solitary confinement and every time she gets out she gets to

listen to people talk about her listen to people whisper about her she gets to wonder am I going to make it back to my sale tonight but when that judge made that last statement that last statement was and you cannot be around children yeeha Casey loses her rights to watch her grandkids grow up what an incredible Final End for her 4 months after Casey entered her play Sandy would also plead guilty to obstruction of justice child abuse concealment of death and second deegree murder for his role in Erica's death Sandy was sentenced to a minimum

of 33 years in prison he will be 82 years old by the the time he is first eligible for parole Sandy Parsons appeared in court this morning pleading guilty to murder and other felony charges people might forgive me I know God has but I'll never forgive myself I turned the Blind Eye things Erica was going through and I failed her that's a thing attorneys argued Sandy was manipulated and controlled by his wife Casey they said it was Casey who committed most of the abuse against Erica locking her in a closet starving and severely beating the

girl they say one day Casey told Sandy that Erica died and manipulated him into covering it up bearing her body in a South Carolina field and lying to police for years Sandy Parson's role as I sted was substantially less than that of as Parson there is literally no evidence that Sandy Parson first intended to kill or seriously injure ER they asked the judge for leniency and sentencing rather than the near 80 years he could have received the judge sentenced him to a maximum of 43 years Erica's biological mother was in court today as well getting

to tell Sandy what she thought of him I stand by what I have said from day one which is I used to love you now I hate you and he got to hear that today SES lawyer read letters from the youngest children where they talked about how much they loved their father and missed him adding that he never abused them psychologist Dr Claudia Colman evaluated Sandy twice and she also testified at the hearing she said he was passive and had troubl making decisions by himself adding that Casey had been the dominant one in the relationship

and that she had threatened to remove the children from him if he didn't do as she told him she said that in her opinion Sandy hadn't wanted Erica to die and had expressed remorse Sandy had told Dr Coleman he wasn't aware of the extent of the abuse that Erica was suffering but the district attorney said he was able to see the extent of the abuse and had exacted some of it the da emphasized that Sandy was an adult in that home adding that he wasn't a victim or a hero and deserved the maximum sentence possible

Carolyn said that Sand's sentence felt like a slap on the wrist and that he had been able to make his own choices she also said that Sandy and Casey's family members could have said something when they saw the signs of abuse the judge put Sandy in the same category as his wife saying that although he believed her to be the brains behind the plan Sandy had gone along with it and participated in it adding that he had a twisted mind while in prison Sandy has received two infractions one for possessing non-threatening Contraband and one for

possession of a weapon finally after the involvement of so many Law Enforcement Officers across various agencies thousands upon thousands of man hours extend ensive searches hundreds of witness interviews the case of Erica Parsons was finally closed the dedication and the commitment shown by those investigating was absolutely incredible it was never about the Rowan County Sheriff's Office the District Attorney's Office the US attorney's office the FBI the SBI no individual except Erica Sheriff Orton said those involved knew that as frustrating as it was they needed to take their time and build their case Brick by Brick

so that it had the most solid of Foundations the easy thing to do would have been to Cave into public pressure to immediately charge someone which would have been irresponsible said district attorney cook we must have the courage to be a voice for the voiceless the monsters who abuse and mistreat children are amongst the worst in society there are few things more cruel than having the love and Trust of a child and making that child feel unwanted unloved and unsafe knowing how much Erica suffered in such a short life not even knowing the warmth of

having her own bed and knowing that this happened at the hands of those who were charged with protecting and looking after her is just too sad to think about perhaps The only positive thing to come from this is that those monsters responsible in this case are exactly where they [Music] belong I gave up Erica for what I thought would be a better life I didn't have a steady home I didn't have a steady job said Carolyn she referred to Eric as a gift that millions of people would love to receive I just want to know

why and I never will to hear those charges and look them in the face and to know that I trusted them to raise my child better than I thought I could that hurts [Music] [Music]