The Week Before Everything Changed

Makayla's mom Beth had been married three times. The third husband, Brian, came with kids of his own, and for a while the blended family worked — when things were good, they were genuinely good. But by 2016, Beth had made up her mind. She wanted a divorce, she wanted to buy Brian out of the house so nobody had to move, and she wanted it to end civilly. That was the plan.

The plan unraveled fast. Earlier that same week, Brian pulled Makayla aside as she was leaving for class and told her about the divorce — information that should have come from her mother, not her stepfather. Then, days later, he told Makayla something else: Beth had been having an affair. Makayla is clear-eyed about this now. She doesn't condone cheating, but she also understands the dynamics of leaving a dangerous relationship. She believes her mom found someone she thought could offer a layer of protection while she tried to get out safely. The most dangerous time for a domestic violence victim is when they're leaving — and Beth knew that.

Halloween, 2016

The day started like any other. Makayla was in her first semester of college, wore scrubs to class, and still has a video of her friend Paige in a banana costume from that morning — a bright spot that resurfaces every October 31st. She got home in the afternoon, hung out with the family for a bit, and around 9 p.m. went to her mom's room to say goodbye before heading out. Beth was five-foot-one-and-a-half — very proud of that half inch — and Makayla kissed her on the forehead, told her to have a good shift, and said she'd see her in the morning.

Those were her last words to her mom.

After Brian learned about the affair, he bought a gun. He waited out the mandatory three-day waiting period. Then he came back to the house before Beth left for her overnight shift. They argued. The fight moved to the garage. Beth told Makayla's 15-year-old sister to call 911 because she could feel things escalating. The first shot went through Beth's chest and embedded in the garage door — the mark is still visible if you drive by. The second shot was to the back of her head.

Makayla's sister ran to her room, hid in the closet, heard Brian walking toward her, and escaped through sliding glass doors into the backyard. By the time she reached the fence, police were already arriving. Brian's friend, who had been waiting in the car and heard the shots, ran inside and got Makayla's 12-year-old brother out. He was the one who found Beth. Brian was arrested that night.

“Those were my last words to my mom.”

— Makayla, recalling the moment she said goodbye before leaving the house that night

The Hours After

Makayla got the call from her sister around 10:30 p.m. and rushed home. The family gathered across the street at a gas station — siblings, police, neighbors. Nobody could reach John, her brother and sister's dad. Someone drove to their grandmother's house to get her. Their grandma, who had lost three pregnancies before Beth and raised her as her only child, said she already knew when she woke up. She just knew.

Police wouldn't confirm or deny anything until grandma arrived, which struck Makayla as strange given that she was already 18. Once grandma got there, they were told. Her 12-year-old brother threw up immediately. They went to the police station, dealt with what Makayla thinks was a DCFS-related check to make sure the younger kids could go home with grandma, and then dispersed in the early morning hours.

Makayla drove herself from the house to her grandmother's alone — the most silent 15 minutes of her life. They arrived around 4 or 4:30 a.m. By 6, people were already knocking on the door.

“I don't want any other DV survivor... to think that I would ever hold any judgment on that.”

— Makayla, on her mother's affair and the context of leaving an abusive relationship

Beth, Remembered

Ten years out, Makayla made a point of dedicating a whole video to who her mom actually was — not just how she died. Beth cooked almost every night. When Makayla had to work at Dairy Queen, Beth would bring her a plate. Makayla still dreams about it. She has one voicemail left from her mom — a mildly annoyed message about a missed call on the drive home from work — and she has held onto it.

She misses her mom's hands. Soft, careful, always tended. She misses the nickname only Beth ever used for her. She misses the calls on the drive home from work, ostensibly to check in but really to remind them about the chores. And she talks with her siblings about how their time living under the same roof — their shared childhood — was cut short in the most violent way possible. Her sister now lives in a different state. They talk all the time about how much they took that era for granted.

Brian pleaded not guilty. There was a trial. Makayla, her brother, and her sister all had to testify. Her grandmother has eight binders of court transcripts. Makayla has tried to read them and had to stop. She's still in therapy — actively, regularly — and says her grief doesn't stay in one shape. Some days it's sadness. Some days it's rage at Brian. And some days, now that she's a mother of two herself, it's a more complicated anger directed at her mom too — at choices made, at conversations they never got to have. She's working on that.

“Sometimes home isn't a place, it's a person — and I think for a lot of people your first home is your mom.”

— Makayla, on what she and her siblings lost beyond just their mother

How it unfolded

  1. The marriageBeth married Brian, her third husband, and the two families blended — difficult at times, but functional when things were good.
  2. The divorce decisionIn 2016, Beth asked Brian for a divorce and hoped to buy him out of the house so the kids wouldn't have to move.
  3. The affair revealedBrian told Makayla about both the divorce and Beth's affair the same week, before Beth could tell her daughter herself.
  4. The gun purchasedAfter learning of the affair, Brian bought a gun and waited out the mandatory three-day waiting period.
  5. Halloween nightBrian returned to the house before Beth's overnight shift, they argued in the garage, and he shot her twice — once in the chest, once in the back of the head.
  6. The aftermathMakayla's sister escaped through sliding glass doors; her brother was pulled out by Brian's friend; Brian was arrested; all three siblings eventually testified at trial.
  7. Ten years laterMakayla, now a mother of two, is in active therapy and sharing the story publicly for the first time, including her complicated grief and her memories of who Beth really was.

Our take

The thing that makes Makayla's account so hard to look away from isn't the horror of the crime — it's how honest she is about the mess around it. She's not performing grief for an audience. She's genuinely mid-process: angry at Brian, angry at her mom sometimes, guilty she wasn't home, grateful she wasn't home, holding a voicemail she can't delete and a nickname she hasn't heard in a decade. That's what actual loss looks like — not clean, not resolved, not a lesson with a bow on it. What also stands out is how carefully she frames her mom's affair. She's not defending it, she's contextualizing it. She understands that women leaving dangerous relationships do what they can to survive, and she refuses to let that detail become the headline that erases everything else about Beth. That kind of grace, extended to someone she's also angry at, is genuinely hard to do. The banana costume detail, the voicemail, the hands — those are the things that stay with you.

Beth was a nurse, a cook, a mom who called on her drive home and was very proud of that half inch. She deserved to make it out. Makayla is making sure she's remembered as more than how she died.

Questions people ask

What happened to Brian after he shot and killed Beth on Halloween 2016?

Brian was arrested the night of the shooting. He pleaded not guilty, and there was a full trial. Makayla, her brother, and her sister all testified. Her grandmother has eight binders of court transcripts from the proceedings.

Why did Makayla's mom have an affair before the divorce?

Makayla believes her mom, who was in a domestic violence situation, sought out someone she thought could offer protection while she was trying to leave safely. Makayla explicitly says she holds no judgment toward her mom or any DV survivor who made similar choices to get out.

How old were Makayla and her siblings when their mom was killed?

Makayla was 18, her sister was 15, and her brother was 12 at the time of the shooting on October 31st, 2016.