00:00:07
I've been a writer for almost 50 years and I have never encountered a story like this that was such a combination of
00:00:20
utter tragedy and happiness we called this story at the beating heart because a heart survived a tragic event so it
00:00:39
was Christmas 1986 all the Christmas cheer or the season everyone's happy smiling so it was a the best Christmas
00:00:48
ever I was falling hard in love and it all ended police got a call around 2:00 a.m. that shots were fired and an
00:01:01
apartment complex and they rushed to the scene the first detective on the scene was Detective Tommy Lee I went up to the
00:01:13
second floor to the apartment I walked in and a young 19 year old female was laying on the floor with what appeared
00:01:22
to be blood coming from her face and her head and her eyes the victim was Karen or Mert at 2:30 a.m. Saturday a Karen
00:01:33
rumored was found dead in her apartment shot three times in the head detective Lee is looking at this horrifying scene
00:01:40
and suddenly a woman shows up and it's the victim's mother we look each other in the face and I said I hate to tell
00:01:52
you this but your 19 year old daughter is dead she was murdered and she collapsed in my arms
00:02:01
tell me I can't imagine there's anything you learn in the Academy that prepares you for a moment like that I'll never
00:02:10
forget it you never forget telling a mother that her 19 year old daughter has been murdered
00:02:17
I was shocked I didn't believe it at first my name is rich leap I had known Karen
00:02:24
Emmerich for several years and we had recently started dating and it just hit me like a ton of bricks I couldn't
00:02:32
imagine what happened went upstairs to my room laid down in my bed and I think I cried for 12 hours
00:02:39
it was just she's gone I didn't get to say goodbye to her it just kind of left a hole but that's not where this story
00:02:51
ended something amazing came out of something horrifying doesn't happen that often
00:03:00
[Music] you