Prologue

The bed was too big for her tiny body. So were the bruises. A two-year-old’s cries had been silenced forever.

A step-father’s 9-1-1 call for help pierced the phone lines.

Sirens pierced the silence as an ambulance tore through Meeker, Oklahoma. It was a race against time as the little girl slipped away. Her lips turned blue, her skin pale gray. Her blood drained into her stomach from the blow.

Emergency crews found the girl’s lifeless body in her step-father’s arms.

Only three people could possibly know what happened that October day. Two are in prison. The other is dead. What happened that afternoon, two people’s silence may never fill.

Was the two-year-old left for her step-father to find? Or did he wait until his wife left to do the unthinkable?

Meeker lost its innocence that Indian summer day. It was the day Kelsey Smith-Briggs was murdered.

Face to Face Interrogation

A lens, no bigger than the size of a button, tucked secretly into the side of the wall watched a young man drag a garbage can close to his body to catch the vomit that never came.

Another lens, hidden in the ceiling of the next room, looked down on a young mother who fought to produce tears that never came.

Two days after their daughter’s death, Raye Dawn and Michael Porter drove to Oklahoma City together to be interviewed by agents with the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation.

They drove together and lied together. In separate rooms.

Michael Porter

The device hidden inside the interrogation room recorded the sounds of Michael Porter’s hurried breaths. The lens watched the 25-year-old step-father squirm in his chair as Agent Steve Tanner began asking questions, Mike I appreciate you coming down and visiting with us again. Bottom line is we’re trying to figure out here what happened.

I understand, replied Porter.

Tanner told Porter he could leave at any time. During the four hours he spent in one room, Porter left his chair only once, to pace the small room.

The agent had not begun asking about the death of his step-daughter, Kelsey Smith-Briggs, when Porter started crying, lifting his arms over his head in anguish. Porter said, It’s like I can’t breathe sometimes. It just hurts so bad. She could make you feel like she’d known you her whole life in two minutes. I never had anybody touch me the way she’d done.

Tanner asked, Have you and Raye had any chance to be alone since this thing happened?

I don’t know, replied Porter.

You don’t know? asked Tanner.

I don’t know what I…I don’t know what she needs me to do. Sometimes I don’t know if she needs to be alone. We’re getting to the drained point where we cry for two days straight, and we haven’t slept and we haven’t eaten.

Tanner asked, You have both cried about this?

Porter sobbed as he said, More than I can tell you. I’m sorry. I was going to try to be composed today.

Raye Dawn Smith

She’d be 26-years-old next month. With baby number three on the way. The first one was a miscarriage. The third one was a trimester along. The second one was murdered before she turned three. And that’s why two OSBI agents sat staring at Raye Dawn Smith Porter. In a room just down the hall from Mike, Raye tried to hide her face from the agents. She could not hide from the camera recording her every move.

Raye’s straight blonde hair was pulled back into a pony tail. Her cargo pants and a hooded sweatshirt concealed the little one growing inside her. She and Porter just moved into a big house on a hill outside of Meeker. It had enough space for their growing family.

It’s pretty much a Cinderella story, you know. Things are really starting to look good, said Agent Kevin Garrett.

We just said that the other day, replied Raye.

Who said that? You and Mike? asked Garrett.

He was saying to me, ‘What do you do at the age of 25 when you have everything you want?’

Was this before Kelsey passed or after? asked Garrett.

Raye did not answer, she just continued, We have beautiful kids, a beautiful home…

Garrett cut her off, Right. And isn’t it amazing how quickly it can change? Garrett asked, What do you think Kelsey would tell us if we could talk to her? What do you think she would tell us that happened?

I don’t know because why wouldn’t she tell me if something was wrong? Why wouldn’t she tell her mommy? asked Raye.

Well maybe she tried and you didn’t know exactly what she was trying to say, explained Garrett.

She always came up and told me. She hugged and she would say, ‘Mommy I love you. I love you so much.’ And I’d say, ‘I love you too honey.’

Have you talked to Michael about this? asked Garrett.

Raye asked, About what? Apparently Raye was not sure what he could be referring to.

Garrett quickly clarified, About Kelsey. Why are we here? We are here talking about Kelsey.

I knew she…we knew she had seizures. That’s all anybody ever assumed.

But this isn’t a seizure related death. She may have had a seizure because of what occurred to her, but that’s not what killed her. Any thoughts?

I have all kinds of thoughts, retorted Raye.

Do you want to share them? pressed Garrett.

I just have all kinds.

What kind of thoughts do you have?

It’s just, I’m depressed and… Raye Dawn trailed off.

Garrett interrupted her thoughts, I can relate to that.

Just all kinds of things that I didn’t know you could feel, explained Raye.

Are you scared? asked Garrett.

Of what?

What’s going to happen to this?

That’s not even on, paused Raye Dawn, I don’t know how to explain anything.

I mean does it scare you that we’re here having to tell you? asked Garrett.

Of course. I’m not worried about me, explained Raye Dawn.

Why not?

Because I’m here thinking about my daughter. That’s the only reason I’m up here.

Chapter One

12 months before the young couple sat in those OSBI interrogation rooms, Michael Porter and Raye Dawn Smith met on October 15, 2004.

October 15, 2005 Kelsey Smith-Briggs was buried.

October 15, 2005 Kathie Briggs should have been celebrating her 50th birthday, not attending her granddaughter’s funeral.

There would be two services that day. Two families gathered around one tiny casket.

A soldier sat in the last row. A soldier who leaned on his family to carry his weight. A soldier who begged his entire family to sit with him in the back of the room. Not because he wanted to be far away from his baby’s body, but because a soldier always has his back to a wall.

His two-year-old always proudly announced, Daddy a soldier! So on the day of her funeral, amid a crowd full of shirts, ties, and pinstripes, SPC Lance Briggs wore his military fatigues for Kelsey.

The sounds of war filled Lance’s head, along with sounds of his wife hanging up an ocean away. The loudest were the sounds of his baby’s voice that he’d never hear again. They drowned out the sounds that filled the room.

The small, white casket was closed, hiding the body of the blonde two-year-old covered with bruises. Lance ordered it closed. He told his Mom he wanted to remember the Kelsey he left behind, the little girl who was happy. He couldn’t handle the images of her body after she had been beaten to death.

Kelsey Smith-Briggs had been dead four days.

Two hundred people packed the Parks Brothers funeral home. Most of the people there had never seen a child’s casket before. A glance toward the front of the chapel brought them to tears. It was standing room only. People came to hear a few comforting words in a world where the comforts of home killed.

Outside her funeral, Oklahoma City television and newspaper photographers had been banished to a parking lot across the street. The funeral director demanded the journalists respect the family’s privacy. The photographers snapped pictures and recorded video of the Briggs’ family and friends walking into the funeral home. Images of the mourners were broadcast on the news that evening.

Inside, a doctor in the Briggs family gave Lance a pill to help get through the last two hours he would ever spend with Kelsey. Pastor Glen Walters struggled to find the words to begin the service.

Walters took a deep breath in hopes of comforting himself first, It’s no secret why we’re here. Little Kelsey has passed from amongst us. Kelsey was born, December 28, 2002, to Lance Briggs and Raye Dawn Smith. She died October 11, 2005, at Prague hospital. She loved swinging and gymnastics and riding her John Deer tractor. Kelsey is survived by her father SPC Lance Briggs of Fort Benning, Georgia.

I stand before you today only as a messenger and a weak one at that. The loss of this child has shaken me to the foundation of my being. And I’ve had to search my own soul as I hope and pray all of you will. Listen to God’s word. When I get to where I can see… Walters wiped his eyes and shared several Bible passages about the place God prepares in heaven for the little ones.

Lance’s sister Jeanna broke down when the notes of a familiar song filled the air. Words that still bring tears to her eyes every time she hears the verse:

Jesus loves me! He who died

Heaven’s gate to open wide;

He will wash away my sin,

let His little child come in.

Laughter replaced tears if only for a moment as the pastor continued, All children develop some habits. Some are not so good; some are cute. Kelsey liked to bite, even her own baby cousin. She loved to swing, but she couldn’t say swing. She would say, ‘Wing, wing!’

‘Oh man’. And ‘I do it, I do it,’ were just a few of her favorite sayings, smiled the pastor.

At the end of the service, the Briggs family could hardly bring themselves to leave. The crowd gave their condolences to the family in the grieving room. When everyone left and the room emptied, Lance and his family approached the little casket. They wrapped their arms around it and sobbed.

Only half of the people who knew Kelsey best attended the 10:00 a.m. service. Television crews rushed to cover Kelsey’s second funeral service. The afternoon service was for Kelsey’s mom’s family.

Less than 24 hours after the death of her daughter, Raye Dawn’s hair and make-up were immaculate for her trip to the courthouse. Her first order of business was to open her family’s plot at the cemetery. While she was there, Raye Dawn filed paperwork to keep Kathie and Lance away from the Smiths’ funeral. She filed a restraining order against the man who was not scheduled to get home from Iraq for a few days.

Still making her rounds, Raye Dawn is said to have told her co-workers she was all cried out and this was probably for the best. It was the only suitable reply for a woman whose eyes were dry the morning after her daughter’s death.

Lance desperately wanted to see his daughter’s casket. Restraining order aside, he would not go to the Smith family’s funeral. Since he couldn’t bear to see Porter or Raye Dawn, Lance wanted to have a separate service.

While the wounds over Kelsey’s death were still raw, the Briggs were now forced into a legal battle for their last hour with the two-year-old’s body. After contacting a lawyer, the District Attorney, and the Sheriff, the Briggs got permission to hold a separate funeral. By this time they only had three hours to write the obituary and get to the funeral home to make the arrangements.

The division between the families spilled into the public eye. The local newspaper printed two obituaries, with two different names, for the same dead baby. As the Briggs family shared the need to make arrangements for Kelsey Smith-Briggs with the funeral director, they noticed a look of confusion on his face. He explained Raye Dawn told him Smith was Kelsey’s legal last name. Even in death, Raye Dawn tried to cut Lance out of Kelsey’s life. At that moment they made the decision to refer to her only as Kelsey Briggs.

Kelsey’s casket would be opened at the Smith family funeral. Witnesses said Raye Dawn again seemed remarkably composed as she gave a several page speech about her daughter’s life. Some people at the service felt the speech centered on Raye Dawn herself rather than Kelsey. The room was filled with people including Michael Porter, the man being investigated for Kelsey’s murder. Raye Dawn went to extreme lengths to ban Kelsey’s biological father from her funeral but didn’t seem at all concerned about Porter’s presence.

A friend who saw Kelsey’s body that day ran out of the room screaming, They beat that baby! They beat the baby! You have got to see what they did to her.

Michael Porter

After less than an hour of questioning, OSBI Agent Tanner told Porter, Kelsey was murdered. Tanner said, The problem we’re running into is with the report that the Medical Examiner has given. It appears…well, it doesn’t appear; it’s a fact that there were some internal injuries that Kelsey had that absolutely cannot be caused by chest compressions.

Porter adjusted his collar and looked down as Tanner continued, They were abdominal injuries that were inflicted on Kelsey to the point of where they were so significant that Kelsey would have been in the fetal position right after they happened, okay.

Porter put his hands over his mouth as Tanner explained, At 1:30 p.m. was when Jean left, so Kelsey was fine at that point in time. Something happened between the time that Jean left and when the ambulance showed up. That’s what we have to try to determine, what happened between that time period because that’s when those injuries occurred on Kelsey. The Medical Examiner described the injuries as being non-accidental.

Porter leaned over and put his head in his hands as Tanner said, Something happened to Kelsey.

Porter interrupted, I don’t think. Neither one of us would hurt her, Steve, neither one of us.

Tanner explained, "The injuries were probably caused during a very short time period, okay. The injuries would have absolutely put Kelsey in a fetal position where the pain would have been so significant that she wouldn’t have been able to handle it and still be functional.

The bottom line is we have to try to determine whether it was caused by Raye Dawn or it was caused by you or if it was caused by both of you guys.

Porter cried, Neither of us, Steve. Neither one of us.

Tanner continued, It’s not unusual in these types of situations and these types of cases…and believe me, we’ve investigated many, many, many of these and you typically have some people that are pretty good folks, people that love their children.

No. No, Porter scooted to the edge of his chair and shifted his weight.

Tanner said, And it just happens.

No it doesn’t.

Well let me ask you this, Mike. Did you do anything…

No, replied Porter.

Tanner continued, …to hurt Kelsey?

No. No. Never, never, never.

So who would that leave? asked Tanner.

Quietly Porter said, She would never do it.

Raye Dawn Smith

One hour and eleven minutes into the interview in the room down the hall, Raye Dawn learned the news that had been broken to her husband a few minutes earlier. Agent Kevin Garrett and a female agent told Raye Dawn her daughter had been murdered. Garrett began, They’re saying your daughter was killed. This is a homicide case. I mean something’s happened to her that’s not consistent with what you’re saying and what Mike’s saying. Raye Dawn looked into her lap as he continued, So what we want to try to do is find out why this could have happened and who could have done it.

Raye mumbled, No.

Do you have any idea? asked Garrett.

With a blend of argumentative disbelief Raye said, There’s no way!

Are you sure there’s something else that might not have taken place whenever she was with you?

There’s no way, Raye patronized the agent with years of investigatory experience.

Garrett corrected her, Well, I’m sorry to say, but there is.

She repeated, There’s no way, and bent over to put her face in her lap.

Was she crying or something when you were trying to go to sleep?

Raye Dawn flailed her arms in the air as she said, No. She just laid beside me and went to sleep.

The mother continued to argue with the agents. She told them she did not believe that something happened to Kelsey besides a seizure, I don’t believe that. I don’t believe that, became Raye’s response to nearly every supposition the agents made.

Why do you not believe that? Were you worried about Lance coming back? Was that something that had you kind of stressed out? pressed Garrett.

Raye began dramatically ranting, No. I would never hurt my baby!

Chapter Two

Give me a baby, Raye Dawn shouted.

And he did.

Lance has a hunch Kelsey was conceived on the side of a dirt road.

The two went dirt roadin’ often. Yes, in Meeker dirt roadin’ is a verb.

Four stop signs mark the middle of Meeker. It’s small, even by Oklahoma standards. If you stand in the intersection, you’re standing at the crossroads of Highways 18 and 62 in Lincoln County. On one corner people fill up with gas and get a cold drink at the Rainbow convenience store. On the other, the Bad Dawg café serves up delicious cheeseburgers with sides of fried okra, the kitty chicken salad, and the town gossip. Lucky customers get serenaded at their red leather booths by men with guitars, fiddles and harmonicas. No invitation necessary.

Most of the residents were either born in Meeker or moved there while they were still in diapers. Like Carl Hubbell, arguably Meeker’s most famous resident. The hall of fame baseball player and pitcher for the Giants moved to Meeker as a boy. He helped the Giants win the 1933 World Series. Nestled inside Meeker City Hall, King Carl has a museum named after him.

Thirty seconds, going the speed limit, and you’ve seen Meeker. Inside Studio 62, the dryers drown out the buzz of women’s voices sharing the latest family stories. Now the talk is somber as the women share their opinions about what happened to Kelsey. Her story divided the town of 980 people.

These days there are more hot pink, heart shaped stickers in Meeker than people. A sticker order at the local sign shop began as 200 and multiplied to more than 400,000. On them, an innocent smile, baby blue eyes and a message: Justice for Kelsey Briggs. The stickers dot store fronts, office doors, and rear windows of cars. Kelsey Briggs smiles back at you. Yes, you’re smiling because her personality is contagious. Her blonde hair barely brushes her shoulders. Ribbon holds a tuft of her golden locks off her face. Her eyes are full of mischief. It’s a face hard to forget.

Now, many would say she’s Meeker’s most famous resident.

Oklahoma fell in love with Kelsey in the days following October 11, 2005.

Kelsey’s mom and dad met in high school but didn’t start dating until after they graduated. Lance was a football player. Raye Dawn was the captain of the pom squad. During half-time of the football games, the pom girls showed off their high kicks and cute, sexy moves. Raye Dawn strutted her stuff at Bulldog stadium. In classic tradition, one year the football star escorted the pom captain for their homecoming ceremony.

Kathie Briggs never missed a chance to watch her son play and always admired Raye Dawn from the stands. She sure could dance. Kathie always thought the pom captain would make a great daughter in-law someday. Lance knew she slept around. She just hadn’t made her way around to him until they graduated. The new Millennium marked the beginning of Lance and Raye Dawn’s romance.

One night years after high school, the two ran into each other at a party in Shawnee, a nearby town. Lance walked in with a 12 pack of beer, looked around, and spotted the only open seat. The spot on the couch, next to Raye Dawn, seemed to be waiting for him. He made himself comfortable because he knew he’d be staying awhile.

He had a front row seat to the catch of the party and was carrying a ticket backstage for the night. He had beer and she was happy. Lance says, as they started talking, he found himself getting a little nervous. Hard to understand why, at that point he was feeling good about himself. He had a brand new truck. Now he was talking to Raye Dawn. They talked all night and slipped out the front door together.

The party never ended that night. Lance and Raye Dawn went dirt roadin’ until the sun came up. As the red glow of the Oklahoma sky began to match the red dirt on the horizon, he dropped her off at her parents’ house.

The sex was good; the partying was better. The beer never forced her out of a size four. Lance and Raye Dawn did not miss a beat.

Raye Dawn was Lance’s best accessory. When the two of them walked into a party or a bar, everyone looked. Lance walked with an air about him and Raye Dawn knew she was gorgeous. Her black leather pants, low cut tops, and what Lance called tall hooker boots, caught stares of envious men. Lance knew she’d be a tough one to keep, but he always had a thing for the blonde hair and who she was.

He had the girl everyone wanted to be with. Once she and Lance were married, Lance says she kept up with her reputation.

Lance says he loved Raye Dawn, but in hindsight it was the physical attraction that was addicting. Lance nicknamed her fish because she drank constantly. He knew they were so wrong for each other, but it was a magnetic attraction. They partied hard and fought harder.

Lance and Raye Dawn hadn’t been dating very long, maybe three or four months. Lance was in love though and wanted to get married. The next step was ring shopping. He wanted his bride-to-be to have the biggest ring money could buy. They stopped by every reputable jewelry store in Shawnee, but Raye Dawn kept going back to one. Lance remembers, I knew it was the one at the time. I told her, ‘We can’t do it. I’m sorry,’ and made her think she’d have to settle.

Lance made it work. He bought the ring long before his credit went sour. I charged that sucker! It was a big old ring. It cost $3,500 and I got it for $2,800, Lance says.

Ring in tow, it was time for a romantic proposal. Lance took her to a restaurant on Lake Hefner, in Oklahoma City. He says she knew something was up when he told her they were going out and she had to dress up. They never went out to dinner on a Monday night, but he wanted to surprise her.

The weather was perfect. He reserved a table in the back of the restaurant, overlooking the lake. Lance ordered roses for the table and wine for their glasses. While they were waiting for their food, he asked Raye Dawn to go for a walk, It was perfect; she loved it. I didn’t plan on doing it ever again, laughed Lance.

Raye Dawn always told him she would cry when that special someone proposed. He was disappointed when she did not. He remembers she got a bit emotional but never shed a tear.

Raye Dawn loved the ring, though. She had the ring. Lance says it was almost as if the person did not matter. She had the ring.

Lance watched Raye Dawn flash the investment to everyone. It was a princess cut diamond surrounded by a number of smaller stones. Lance says, I was proud; it made me feel great when she would show it off.

One afternoon after the couple was engaged, Kathie saw Raye Dawn buying something that caught her eye. It was a pregnancy test. Raye Dawn lied and told Kathie it was for her sister. Lance says he remembers Raye Dawn taking the test a couple of times before she went to the doctor who confirmed she was pregnant.

The buzz around Meeker was quite revealing. A relative says Raye Dawn told her one day, I can’t believe I’m fucking pregnant. I hate fucking kids.

They didn’t set the date for the wedding because she got pregnant, but it did speed things up.

In the middle of all of the wedding preparations and bridal showers, an unexpected crisis hit the young couple. A week before the wedding, Kathie says Raye Dawn’s grandmother asked her to come over to sit with Raye Dawn because she was having cramps. While Kathie was there, Raye Dawn’s dad arrived and asked what was wrong. Kathie remembers staring at her in shock as her future daughter-in-law told him, I just want to get this kid out of me.

Raye Dawn’s pain was so intense her family worried she could have a tubal pregnancy. They rushed her to the emergency room. Lance left work and met them at the hospital. Once Raye Dawn was in the hospital room, Raye Dawn’s mother Gayla left abruptly to go back to work. Kathie sat with Lance and Raye Dawn as their fears were confirmed.

Raye Dawn had miscarried. Years later in court she would change the events of the day to say Lance hit her in the stomach to cause her to lose their child.

The following morning, Kathie took Raye Dawn to her follow-up appointment. She asked Kathie to come with her into the examination room. During the appointment, Kathie says Raye Dawn never mentioned a blow to the stomach.

Raye Dawn seemed to get over the loss quickly; she had a wedding to plan.

Lance added another ring to Raye Dawn’s hand outside the same house Kelsey would eventually die in. It was Gayla’s dream home. Lance loved that house. It sits four miles east of Meeker, perched on a huge hill with a breathtaking view of rural Oklahoma. Hay bales and cattle dot the horizon.

The mature oak trees could not begin to shade the unbearable heat that day. It was too hot for an outdoor wedding. Kathie asked Raye Dawn about the possibility of moving the wedding indoors to escape the extreme Oklahoma heat in the