'I Miss You Both': Mother Whose Son Murdered Other Son Testifies At Sentencing

Описание: Elise Thompson found her 16-year-old son, James, shot dead in their home in Raleigh, North Carolina, on Oct. 13, 2022.

Her other son, 15-year-old Austin, was the killer, and he went on to murder four other people and injure two others in a mass shooting that she said baffles her to this day.

Thompson testified in Austin's sentencing hearing today (Wednesday, February 4).

01:12 "How were they as brothers?"
"They were very good. They got along very well, and they did a lot of stuff together."

02:01 "James was more outgoing, and Austin was more like me, where it took him a few minutes to warm up to a room or to new people, but after that, he was fine."

02:58 "If Austin wasn't into sports, what were the things that he liked to do
besides video games, he liked to go fishing. He liked to go hunting with his dad, Alan.

Whenever I was going the grocery store, they wanted to come with me, because then they knew that they would get their favorite snacks, and they like to go out for ice cream with me, which was when we did. It was usually on a Sunday."

07:11 "Did they ever have any incidents or get into any trouble during these times where they were at home alone?"
"Nope, they were really good kids. They were at home, at school, at Sunday school, they, as far as I know, they never even handed in a late assignment ever to school."

08:39 "We were we were in the kitchen, she was applying the hair dye, and he turned on the TV, and all of a sudden, there's Hedingham shooter."

12:02 She goes home and "of course, my head's on a swivel because all this stuff is going on, and I didn't see them in the kitchen. I glanced past their bedrooms, and then I walked into our master bedroom, which, as everyone knows, that's where I found his body on the bathroom floor."

12:32 "I remember running and screaming, and I went out the same front door that I came in, and I I I remember saying, they killed him. They killed him."

13:25 "I had a panic attack, and I was I remember when I someone walked me to the ambulance that was open, and I remember saying, Oh, you got me on the first stick. Thank you. And that's all I remember."

14:57 "Leading up to this incident, had you noticed a change at all in Austin?"
"No, not at all. It was a complete shock. There were no no different moods, no different behavior, nothing."

15:27 "Was he taking any prescription medications that you know of?"
"Yes, he and his brother, both they were taking acne medication, but I don't remember the name of it. I just knew they took it once a day."

16:00 "I didn't notice any behavior changes at all."
"Did he ever complain or mention that the medicine made him feel weird or anything like that?"
"No, nothing at all."

16:34 "What types of games these were?"
"I'm pretty sure it was Call of Duty."

17:39 "Understanding that this is likely a parent's worst nightmare, is there anything that you can think of that looking back, you feel like maybe you should have noticed or seen?"
"No that was, I've, I've run through that almost every day since the tragedy, and I, I don't remember seeing any issues at all, or mood swings or anything like that. He was just normal."

19:02 Letter

"No one ever thinks they will outlive their child, let alone find their lifeless, bloody body.

N one ever expects to have everything important to them ripped away from them in a single afternoon. I'm not sure anyone can understand where Alan and I sit. We both lost our children, one at the hand of the other. We never saw this coming, and still cannot make sense of it

To know that my son, who I carried for nine months, caused all of this heartache and tragedy, is still a complete shock. Austin was a happy kid. He was an honor roll student who never caused any trouble, problems at school or Sunday school. He was a great kid and a great brother and a great son. What he did makes no sense to me.

Austin, I know you did this, and I also know as your mom, this wasn't anything you had in you. You and James were great babies, kids and teens. You and James were our world. I miss you both every day.

I can't imagine a day there will ever be where I don't miss you as parents, we will never get to witness the milestones that you and James would have experienced in my lifetime, I will not see either of you get your driver's license, go to the prom, see you walk across the stage to get your high school diplomas, or see you attend college. I will miss watching both you launch into adulthood, getting married and potentially having your own children.

We belong to the worst club on Earth. My heart is shattered, and so are my hopes and dreams for you and James, we have nothing left to look forward to.
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