Letter from Shirica-
Following Kelsey Smith Briggs murder, Kelsey's Aunt Shirica wrote, “I can tell you what a grieving parent looks like. I saw one first hand on Oct. 11, 2005. I heard his voice on the phone when he was given the news that his precious baby girl was gone. The sounds that came from the phone were not the sounds of a human. They were sounds I will never forget for as long as I live. The first thing he assumed when he knew bad news was coming was that something had happened to his mother, not his child. Parents do not automatically assume the news is going to be that their child is gone. Children are not supposed to go first. He cried in complete disbelief. He said NO over and over. His words could not be understood. He walked off of the airplane with blood shot eyes and tears that would not stop. He could barely stand. His knees could no longer hold him up. He had to lean on his own father. He asked if we had just played a cruel joke on him. His heart was literally ripped from his chest. He cried over and over how he just needed to give her the camel he had brought for her from Iraq. He wanted to hold his baby girl just one more time. He was a broken man. He went home to her bedroom that night and touched all of her things and cried some more.
I sat next to this grieving parent at her funeral. He cried yet again. He could not speak. He could barely stand. His parents held onto him as if he were a child again. He could not begin to imagine standing up in front of all the people and speaking about himself. He would never be able to find the words. He walks up to the casket afterwards and hugs it. He does not want to let it go. That little box that sits at the front of the funeral home with his precious baby girl inside. He does not open it. He does not want the last memory of her to be this one. Instead he wants to remember her face as she looked so adoringly at him six months before. He does not want to be seen in public. He wants to be left in peace with his memories. He then spends the next two days in the hospital for grief counseling because he cannot imagine another day without her here. He just wants to hold her one more time. He wants to kiss her face one more time. He wants her to be able to lick his face one more time the way she did the last time he came home to see her. He wants to tell her he loves her. Instead he is left here with his broken heart and her memory. He will have to hold onto those memories until they can be together again. He will have to continue to be strong the way she was for so long. He will have to try and make her proud the way she made him so very proud, the way she continues to make him proud everyday. He has to try and get by one hour at a time because getting by one day at a time is more than he can handle.
That is what a grieving parent looks like, or at least that is what an innocent grieving parent looks like.”
I sat next to this grieving parent at her funeral. He cried yet again. He could not speak. He could barely stand. His parents held onto him as if he were a child again. He could not begin to imagine standing up in front of all the people and speaking about himself. He would never be able to find the words. He walks up to the casket afterwards and hugs it. He does not want to let it go. That little box that sits at the front of the funeral home with his precious baby girl inside. He does not open it. He does not want the last memory of her to be this one. Instead he wants to remember her face as she looked so adoringly at him six months before. He does not want to be seen in public. He wants to be left in peace with his memories. He then spends the next two days in the hospital for grief counseling because he cannot imagine another day without her here. He just wants to hold her one more time. He wants to kiss her face one more time. He wants her to be able to lick his face one more time the way she did the last time he came home to see her. He wants to tell her he loves her. Instead he is left here with his broken heart and her memory. He will have to hold onto those memories until they can be together again. He will have to continue to be strong the way she was for so long. He will have to try and make her proud the way she made him so very proud, the way she continues to make him proud everyday. He has to try and get by one hour at a time because getting by one day at a time is more than he can handle.
That is what a grieving parent looks like, or at least that is what an innocent grieving parent looks like.”
Secretly recorded interviews break the Kelsey case wide open...
A lens, no bigger than the size of a button, tucked 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, edges blurred by the material concealing it, and watched as a young mother fought to produce tears, that wouldn’t come. 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. 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 Mike.
Tanner told Mike he could leave at any time. During the four hours he spent in one room, Mike left his chair only once, to pace the small room.
Tanner had not even begun asking about the death of his step-daughter, Kelsey Smith Briggs, when Mike started crying, lifting his arms over his head in anguish, “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.”
“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.”
“You have both cried about this?” Mike 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 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 Porter. Raye tried to hide her face from the agents, but could not hide from the camera recording her every move.
Raye’s straight blonde hair was pulled back into a pony tail. Cargo pants and a hoodie concealed the little one growing inside her. She and Mike just moved in to a big house on a hill outside of Meeker, Oklahoma, 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?”
Raye did not answer, she just continued to say, “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.
“About what?” After hours of questioning, 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.”
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 Mike.
Tanner told Mike he could leave at any time. During the four hours he spent in one room, Mike left his chair only once, to pace the small room.
Tanner had not even begun asking about the death of his step-daughter, Kelsey Smith Briggs, when Mike started crying, lifting his arms over his head in anguish, “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.”
“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.”
“You have both cried about this?” Mike 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 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 Porter. Raye tried to hide her face from the agents, but could not hide from the camera recording her every move.
Raye’s straight blonde hair was pulled back into a pony tail. Cargo pants and a hoodie concealed the little one growing inside her. She and Mike just moved in to a big house on a hill outside of Meeker, Oklahoma, 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?”
Raye did not answer, she just continued to say, “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.
“About what?” After hours of questioning, 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.”
