believed in. he died for what he believed in. and i know he doesn't have any regrets. 911 emergency. >> has the jury reached a verdict? >> we the jury find the defendant -- she lived her life around her children. >> she was a young single mother working hard for her family. but one night a lone gunshot ended it all. a devoted mother of three murdered. >> people in the house, the landlord, people next door, no one heard anything. >> her daughter tried to protect her brothers. >> i told them to stay in the room. i didn't want them to see.

>> police were puzzled. neighbors baffled. her son, haunted. >> i still hurt. i still long for my mother's touch. >> who was the killer? >> it blew me back. and it was such a shock. >> an unlikely suspect. >> i wanted it to be somebody else. i wanted to be mad at somebody else. >> an unbearable secret. >> it was so overwhelming, i mean, i became numb. >> now the only one who really knows what happened that night speaks out. >> people would ask me where's my mom, i'd just say she died. i wouldn't get into details. >> in this hour, "a deadly secret." 1967, newark, new jersey. riots rip apart the fabric of the city. it would be a long, hot summer. just four years later racial tension and unrest still linger.

in this apartment on south 20th street maylon johnson was struggling to make ends meet, working two jobs and raising three children. >> my mother worked a lot because she was a single parent. so she wasn't home. >> she would make sure that she answered all my questions and curiosities and, you know, took care of us very well. >> one night in october it was so foggy that maylon took her three children outside on the porch so they could see it. >> she brought us outside to see how thick the fog was. it was so thick you couldn't see the hands in front of our faces. >> it would be a night that would cloud a family's memories for the next 27 years, pitting siblings against each other and raising profound legal questions about where childhood ends and responsibility begins. george johnson was just 11 then. but he remembers that night as if it were yesterday. >> that evening just before you

went to bed was anyone arguing? >> no. >> was anyone fighting? >> no. >> everyone was getting along? >> it was a nice, quiet night. >> but the night would not stay quiet for long. george and his younger brother david were awakened before dawn. their older sister, susan, said their 30-year-old mother had been shot. >> i told them to stay in the room. i didn't want them to see. they came out anyway. >> i looked into my mother's bedroom, and i couldn't see anything. it was like she was laying there asleep. and i went on into the bathroom, and there was a lot of blood all over the bathroom. so i come back up the bathroom and go into her room, and she was dead. >> when jerry enio, then a young homicide detective, arrived at the scene, he was confronted with three hysterical children. >> the children of course were upset.

at that point they were no help at all, especially the two boys. the girl, she was distraught, and i really felt sorry for them. >> susan was 14 at the time, and she told police she had seen someone's foot going out the front door, then a car speeding away from the building. >> i said it was a cadillac, like my mother's boyfriend's car, but it was a different color. they said it wasn't his car? i said no, it was a different color. >> neighbors like florence barnes were baffled by the crime. >> i became ill, physically ill at that news. >> she saw maylon johnson as a devoted single mother. why would anyone want to kill her? the only person she could think of was a possessive ex-boyfriend still hurting from a break-up with maylon. >> i felt he did it because he

was not willing at that time to let her go out of his life. >> the detective tracked down the old boyfriend, but he was cleared within days because he was seen in a nightclub on the night of the murder. >> he had an alibi. then they should have looked elsewhere. >> detective enio says he did look elsewhere but came up empty. >> we interviewed other witnesses. people in the house. the landlord. people next door. no one heard anything. no one. >> but florence barnes believes the mostly white police force had no interest in solving the murder of a black woman. >> a murder of black people at that time was not looked at as something that should be investigated with any kind of depth. >> we worked as hard for a black murder as we did for a white murder. >> after a year of dead ends the killer's trail was ice cold and detectives closed the case. >> i was mad at whoever killed her.

and i wanted to know who it was. >> he pestered his sister, the only eyewitness, convinced she knew more than she was letting on. >> my brothers, i tried to comfort them and tell them that mom, you know, she's in heaven, she's in a better place, she's watching over you, you have to go on and be happy and live your life. >> both george and david thought susan may have been protecting them from the truth. >> i felt that she knew who that person was. >> so did you press her, what kind of a shoe was it, who was it, what did you hear? >> i pressed to find out why you didn't chase behind that person to try to see who it was. >> couldn't she have been afraid, though, george, scared that whoever that person was would have turned the gun right on her? >> yeah. i thought of that. that she could have been scared. >> just weeks after the murder, susan moved away to live with her great grandmother. the two brothers stayed in newark with their father. george drifted into using drugs and into trouble with the law, a

downward spiral he blames on the brutal murder of his mother. george said if only they could find out who killed their mother he'd be able to stop the drug use. so to help his older brother, david made a phone call to a contact he had at the newark police department. then, almost three decades after the murder, a cold case unit opened and the case came to detectives keith sheppard and rashid sabur. >> it was eating him alive. and it was causing him to just not care about life. had we not helped him, he would have died himself. >> he's a guy with a rap sheet, he's a guy with a drug problem. how do you know he's not feeding you a bunch of junk? >> he's talking about a murder. i'm obligated to investigate murders. if you come to me and tell you me my brother was killed at a certain date, would you look into it? i'm going to look into it, because you never know. >> when detectives dusted off the file, they learned the original detectives had hit a brick wall.

>> there wasn't a thing where they didn't care about this woman being found in her apartment dead because she was a black woman. it was just that they thought that they didn't have any other information to go with at that particular time. >> but what they had to go on at the time was significant. the clues were there all those years ago. there was no sign of a struggle, no sign of forced entry. a gun like this one was found in maylon johnson's dresser drawer. after police ran tests, they determined it was the murder weapon. but there were no fingerprints on the gun. so chances are it was somebody she knew, right? >> that's correct. >> it became clear that the murderer was not an intruder, as previously assumed. >> somebody in that house killed this woman. we just have to prove who. >> but the only people known to be in the house at the time were three children, 10 and 11-year-old brothers and their 14-year-old sister.

>> the kids really threw me off. i'm sorry to say that. but -- maybe too much compassion at the time. >> detective enio was only able to see suffering orphans standing before him, unable to imagine they had anything to do with the crime. >> sometimes you're sitting out and you're looking at it, you're looking at it, you're looking at the same thing over and over and over and you don't see what you're looking at. >> the new detectives, on the other hand, did not rule them out as suspects. >> what if these three kids got together, killed their mother, and manufactured this story that some guy did it? >> but if that was the answer, why would george have tried so hard to get the case reopened? >> that idea was eliminated after interviewing these guys and after interviewing other people who were familiar with them and the family. >> the detectives had ruled out george and his brother as suspects, but they still had to interview their sister, susan,

the only eyewitness. her brothers warned the detectives that susan might be reluctant to talk about the case. >> they felt that maybe their sister was a little afraid, maybe she was afraid that the person that killed their mother would come back and kill her if she was to tell. >> i was scared to death. i said, you know, i don't want to be a part of this. i'd just rather just leave things alone. why open up a can of worms? >> coming up, susan watson speaks out on what really happened that awful night. >> when the police came and they carried my mother's body out of the house, i couldn't believe it. you'll inevitably find yourself on a desolate highway in your jeep grand cherokee. and when you do, you'll be grateful for the adaptive cruise control that automatically adjusts your speed when approaching slower traffic.

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27 years after her mother's murder, susan watson's life seemed to be on the right track. she built a good life in schenectady, a city in upstate

new york. susan married this man, john amos. they had a lot in common. they were both volunteering with inner city youth and both recovering from alcohol and drug abuse. >> my past came to visit me again after rehab. my brothers wanted me to go see these detectives. so i went down to new jersey. i braved it out. my husband was right there with me. >> susan had to relive that painful night all over again. >> we put her at ease, that listen, it's okay to talk with us. >> but when susan started telling her version of events, the detectives noticed a startling discrepancy. >> you get this chill that runs through your body, like she's messing up over here and she don't even realize she's messing up. >> what was not consistent about what she was saying? >> the fact of this car pulling off. >> remember, back in 1971 susan told police that she had seen a car speeding away from the house.

>> she forgot to put that part in there. >> during this interview, her demeanor changed. she became nervous. >> and in their minds she was turning from a witness into a suspect. what were you thinking? we've got to get her to confess? >> yeah. of course. and i said to her, listen, susan, i think you killed your mom. and based on that fact, i have to advise you of your constitutional rights. >> i was in that room for like 2 1/2 hours. and i denied everything. they said we know that you know what happened. you know, free yourself of the demons. he started to touch me a little bit with that. >> detective sabur put her on the spot. >> if you can sit right here right now and pretend that your mother is sitting here in front of you, pretend that i'm your mother, and tell me as your mother that you didn't kill me, then i'll see you later. and she couldn't do that. i was expecting her to say, well, you know, i was a curious kid and i wandered into the

room, i pulled the pistol out of the room and i was curious about it and it went off and i accidentally shot my mother. and she says, "i thought about killing her for a long time." >> susan told the police that after she shot her mother with her mother's own gun she hid behind a curtain. >> her mother sits up in the bed and calls her name. and then she laid down and died. she stayed behind the curtain until she was sure. >> the detectives had found their murderer but they were deeply disturbed by what they had heard. >> it was emotional. the woman is confessing to killing her mother. it was so overwhelming. i mean, i became numb. >> susan said she had no intentions of disclosing her deep, dark secret that day. john, her husband, who only learned about the shooting just days earlier, didn't know what would happen next. >> where does it go from here? we didn't know. and nobody knew.

>> here i was, an adult, and i was having to pay for something that i did as a child. >> immediately after susan confessed, she was sent to a correctional facility. susan was scared she could be sent to jail for a very long time. and something in the news gave susan even more reason to worry. >> michael, did you kill her? >> in greenwich, connecticut, michael skakel, nephew of ethel kennedy, was convicted at age 47 of murdering his teenage neighbor, martha moxley, when he was just 15 himself. he was sentenced to 20 years in prison. >> when they put him in jail, i said, well, if they locked him up, then there's no chance for me. >> what would susan's brothers think when they found out she is the one who killed their mother that awful night? the night that changed their lives forever. >> it was something that i hadn't planned on telling my

brothers until my deathbed. i was going to write a letter and have it in the will and when i die, you know, explain to them. because they were all i had. >> but of course, they did find out. susan says david, the youngest, was supportive. but george was another story. >> there's times when i just wanted to go grab her and shake the living life out of her. >> susan's story made headlines. she had tried so hard to forget about the past, and now everyone knew she killed her mother. >> i just knew that people were going to hate me, no one was going like me. i was afraid to even come back to schenectady. >> coming up, susan's husband reacts to the news of the murder. >> it was such a shock, i didn't know what to feel. >> and what would drive a 14-year-old to shoot her mother in cold blood? >> it wasn't something that was intentional, something planned.

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when she was a girl of 14, she had killed her mother, shooting her in cold blood. her youngest brother, david, said he was hurt to know the truth but life had to go on. the older brother, george, had a much more difficult time dealing with it. >> deep down inside i didn't want it to be her. i wanted it to be somebody else. i wanted to be mad at somebody else. >> 27 years later, after two cold case detectives interrogated her, the now 41-year-old woman confessed. >> finally, she was able to unleash that monster that's been haunting her for a couple of decades. >> but what would drive a young girl to commit such a crime? what was life really like for susan and her brothers inside that newark apartment?

neighbors who knew the family say they couldn't think of anything wrong. >> her kids were very important to her. she lived her life around her children. i can't imagine in my wildest dreams anything that may did or said that would make her child want to kill her. >> but susan paints a very different picture of her mom. >> i was the one who took care of my brothers and cooked and cleaned the house. and when she wasn't working, she was out. when she was home, you stayed in your room pretty much. there was no conversation or dialogue or sitting at the table together and, you know, having your dinner. >> susan says she always felt uncomfortable when her mother was home. >> there were plenty of days i would stay locked in my room

just to be out of the way. you know, she just didn't want to have us around. >> susan had to grow up quickly and began to feel resentful toward her mother. >> i began to not like her. i began to hate her. i began to hate my life for that matter. >> my mother was a strict mother. >> so you think your sister was just fed up with the strictness around the house, that she wanted to be set free? >> right. >> but susan says it was more than that. she felt rejected. >> i never knew my mother. i didn't feel love. if anything, i felt like we were a burden on her. >> i firmly believe that susan was trapped. she had no place to turn. >> not only trapped, she told detectives, it wasn't only a strict and loveless home but one that was abusive. she says her mother beat her and her brothers often.

>> sometimes if one person would do something we'd all get a beating, especially if no one wanted to fess up. >> there was a stepfather in susan's life for a few years until she was about 9 years old, but she says he was not a reassuring presence. >> there was one time that he called me into his bedroom and, you know, he asked me to do something to him sexually and he told me not to tell my mother. and i didn't out of fear that he would beat on her again. >> the detectives tried to check this out. did you believe her? >> a lot of those people are not around. some people are dead now. we haven't been able to substantiate that information. >> your sister basically says that she was abused as a kid, sexually abused by your father, physically abused by her mother, she was just living through hell

and basically she was saving herself and maybe you and your brother, too, from more agony by shooting. >> first of all, i don't believe that. i've been physically, sexually abused too. but to kill her, there was no justification. >> outside the home she says there was sexual abuse as well. >> this teacher asked me to stay after school. so i did. he opened the locker door. and he started to unzip his pants and put my hand there and asked me to play with him. he said, "i'll give you a good grade." during that time when we came home with bad report cards we would get a beating. and i was pretty good at school at one point, but then my grades started to fall off. so of course i didn't want a bad grade. so i did. and it was on several occasions.

>> george and david said back then that they recalled hearing about susan and a schoolteacher but at the time they were so young that it was hard to remember exactly what was happening. susan says life at home and at school were both becoming a nightmare. she felt there was no way to escape. >> i was used to that at that point, you know, men asking me to do things. thought it was natural. >> coming up, a tragic turn in a 14-year-old girl's life. >> i just lost it. a lot of things build up. >> susan watson shoots her mother. >> i couldn't believe what i did. i couldn't believe it. i just started crying like crazy. our cloud is not soft and fluffy. our cloud is made of bedrock. concrete. and steel. our cloud is the smartest brains combating the latest security threats.

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to suspend their mission. troops fired artillery today. carlotta is weakening to a tropical storm. two were reportedly killed in a landslide. bystanders freed people trapped under a vehicle in lime ma. susan watson killed her mother in 1971. no one knew it was her, and she was never even a suspect. 27 years later the newly opened newark, new jersey police department cold case unit reopened the case. they interrogated susan, and she confessed to the murder. susan was forced to grow up fast. she took care of her brothers, cooked and cleaned because her mother was always working. susan felt that every step of the way her mother was not there

for her. she resented not being able to be a regular kid. she turned into a rebel. by the time susan made it to her early teens, she ran with a crowd that smoked cigarettes and played hooky from school. >> i ended up dating one of the boys. i became pregnant at 13 going on 14 at that time. >> these were the days before roe versus wade. susan says her mother took her to get an illegal abortion. >> i was ashamed. i was embarrassed. she never even asked me who was it or anything. >> susan says after years of abuse she tried to escape her life by running away several times. one night she says she was walking down the street when a man jumped out of the bushes. >> and i fell down on the ground. and he had something long and silver. i guess it was a knife. and i was swinging and trying to get away from him and kicking.

and he said, "get up, you young girl." >> susan says she ran for her life and found herself at the police department. >> my mother came down. and when i told her what happened, she didn't believe me. she had the cops believe that, you know, i was making this up. and they let this guy wander the streets. i was in shock. i was traumatized. >> that was the last straw for susan. and then it got worse. her mother had a new boyfriend and, according to susan, her mother said she didn't want to take care of her and her brothers anymore. >> they were going to go with their father. me, i didn't know that she had tried to give me away as well. >> that is the sad story of a lost 14-year-old girl, a story she says led to that tragic october night in 1971.

>> i thought that if my mother wasn't there my life would be different, i could take care of my brothers. i just lost it. a lot of things build up. the anger build up. there was times that i wished my mother dead. but i hadn't planned on doing this. >> which brings us back to that fateful night in october. susan and her brothers went to bed after watching a scary movie. in the middle of the night susan grabbed the gun from her mother's dresser and shot her in the chest while she was sleeping. >> i called the police. i went in my brothers' room, told them to get dressed. i wiped the prints off the gun. of course this was something that i've seen on tv. or i wouldn't have known to do this. one of the movies. you know, i'm laughing out of embarrassment. >> but when police arrived, she told them she saw someone run out the door and drive off.

that simple explanation from a 14-year-old motherless girl found a sympathetic ear from detectives. they never pursued her as a suspect. but she still carried her own guilt. >> it was when they carried my mother's body out of the house, i couldn't believe what i did. i couldn't believe it. and i just started crying like crazy. >> now susan and her brothers were left without a mother. george and david lived with their father, and susan moved to virginia to stay with her great grandmother. susan tried to put the past behind her. >> i conditioned myself to feel that i didn't do this. i convinced myself that this didn't happen, i didn't do this. when people would ask me where's my mom, i'd just say she died. i wouldn't get into details.

>> years later, in the very same house where the murder took place, susan asked for forgiveness while she was visiting her brothers. >> they were in the other room. i made my amends to my mother. i didn't want them to hear me because then they would know. and i said, you know, "mama, please forgive me for what i've done." >> over the years susan battled with drugs and alcohol and was even homeless at one point. in 1991 she found herself at st. joseph's rehabilitation center in upstate new york. >> they said in order to recover from your addiction you need to let go of things that cause you to use drugs in the first place. and i confided in this little small group that i had killed my mother. and it was a relief for once.

>> just when susan felt like she had finally started to heal, her brother david came to her and said detectives wanted to reinvestigate the case. but susan's husband, john, had no idea about her deep, dark secret. now she had to tell john what really happened to her mother. >> she told me that she had killed her mother. and i wasn't ready to hear that. that just -- it blew me back. and it was such a shock. >> and i told him that this was something i tried to put behind me. i didn't think about this. and you know, he wouldn't like me if he knew this part about me. no one would. >> i reached out to her and hugged her and told her that no matter where this goes i'm going to be here for you, we're going to get through this. >> john is a youth counselor who was used to hearing difficult stories.

but this was different. >> this was my life. and i think the piece that really got to me was how come i didn't see it? how come i did not see that my wife was hurting that deeply? things came out that i had not known. the sexual abuse in her childhood and the level of abuse and the beatings, and -- and i'm like, wow. >> still shocked by the news, john remembered what his mother told him during that hard time. >> mom said, "you know, son, there are some tough things that come our way. you need to fight for your life. you need to fight for your family. fight for susan." >> coming up, susan watson faces the justice system. >> i knew at that time, at that point that they were going to lock me up. [ male announcer ] how do you trade? with scottrader streaming quotes,

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when susan watson was just a teenager, she shot and killed her mother in the middle of the night, and no one ever knew it. 27 years later when two cold case detectives came along, she confessed to the crime. but she also described for them a horrible childhood, one filled with stories of physical, sexual, and emotional abuse. >> it still doesn't justify murdering your mother. here's a woman that struggled for nine months to carry a child, and this child reaches a age where she feels she reaches the age of discretion and she makes a conscious decision that i'm going to take my mother's life. >> whether provoked or not, susan watson had still committed murder. now it was up to a court to decide how to deal with her. it was a tricky case. she had committed the crime when she was just 14 years old. so she was charged as a

juvenile. the laws back then were geared more toward rehabilitation than punishment. her lawyers argued that susan watson had been rehabilitated, that the susan watson who killed her mother no longer existed and at 41 years old, they say, she did not belong in juvenile court. >> all right. this is the case of susan marie watson. >> she had regrets. she worried. she was a little bit relieved that she had come forward and finally told what happened. but i think the remorse consumed her all through the trial. >> 1999, in her first appearance in a newark, new jersey family courtroom, susan watson's lawyers asked a judge to dismiss the case against her. >> one of the advantages we have in this hearing which we don't normally have in a juvenile proceeding is that we can look into the future. we can look beyond 1971 and see the person that susan watson is

and has become. >> the judge tried to determine if susan was rehabilitated. susan did not speak on her own behalf, but those close to her did, including the man she married. >> i met susan -- >> john amos told the court he is devoted to an upstanding woman. >> and i can honestly say that she has led a very sober and clean lifestyle. >> john wanted the courtroom to learn something from this terrible incident. >> what i wanted people to understand is that this was a tragedy that happened to a family that was going through a great deal of difficulty and we need to acknowledge that. >> one by one, people stood up for susan watson. >> state your name, please. >> a priest from a church where she volunteered. >> she's always been responsive, willing, very kind and generous, and a pleasure to be around and to work with.

>> they described how the once troubled teenager ended up helping kids in need. >> she was a house mother for troubled teenagers, and she often sat down and talked with them about their problems. >> witnesses told the court that susan was active in church, sang in the choir, had a good job and was always available to friends who needed her. >> she pulled me up and held me up and said you can do it, you can do it, and it's what i needed to make the difference, that she helped me to believe in myself. >> they knew her for who she was at that time, and they respected that, and her life spoke volumes. >> but the prosecutor said this good samaritan had a dark past, was once an alcoholic, unemployed, and homeless. >> did you know susan marie watson -- >> the prosecutor questioned whether these witnesses really knew the woman they were so eager to praise. >> did you do any kind of evaluations on her? is that correct? >> no.

personally, i did not. >> safe to say that you have never really counseled her about her personal problems, correct? >> correct. >> and while susan volunteered to help other alcoholics, the prosecutor noted she had very little contact with the priest who was testifying on her behalf. >> the number of times i'd come in contact would be a few times a year. >> a few times a year? >> yeah. >> the prosecutor argued there was only one way to determine if susan watson had been truly rehabilitated and that was through a murder trial. >> the fact that she's married, is helping people, wouldn't it be a double tragedy if she went to jail? >> she killed my mother, and i want her to pay. >> what should happen to her? >> she should do some time. >> really? >> yes. murder is murder. whether you're a kid or an adult, murder is murder. >> but the court never heard george johnson's words. he didn't speak at the hearing. george said he was drifting at the time and prosecutors

couldn't locate him in time. david didn't speak either. he says lawyers didn't ask him to take the stand. after two hours of testimony, the judge had made a decision. >> clearly based on the testimony i have before me which i determine to be entirely credible, this young woman has achieved tremendous things in her life, and i find the defense has met its burden of showing she's been rehabilitated and this matter will be dismissed. >> dismissed. that's right. the judge determined that susan watson should be set free without a trial. the prosecutor says he felt susan got off scot-free. >> i felt like she got away with murder. she walked out of the courtroom. >> you guys invest all this heart and soul into this case, you deliver something on a silver platter. >> that's the way the law is written. i mean -- >> i know, but she walked. she didn't spend a day in jail. is that fair? >> well, what's fair is the fact that we gave maylon johnson and her two sons closure.

>> had susan watson really gotten away with murder? >> we wanted to prosecute this to the fullest extent of the law. >> in 2001 a surprising legal twist. the state appealed the judge's decision and won. coming up, would susan watson have to face a murder trial after all? >> now susan would have to speak. all this time she was quiet. [ male announcer ] this is genco services -- mcallen, texas. in here, heavy rental equipment in the middle of nowhere, is always headed somewhere. to give it a sense of direction, at&t created a mobile asset solution to protect and track everything. so every piece of equipment knows where it is, how it's doing or where it goes next. ♪ this is the bell on the cat. [ male announcer ] it's a network of possibilities -- helping you do what you do... even better. ♪

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susan watson had kept a terrible secret for 27 years. as a teenager she had killed her mother and blamed it on an intruder. when she was 41, she confessed to police after the case was reopened by a newark, new jersey police department cold case unit.

but the case was so unusual the criminal justice system didn't know what to do with her. >> i think the law is clear. >> at a hearing in 1999 supporters told the court what an upstanding citizen she was. but no one had been able to explain a motive. why did she kill her mother? in 2001 susan was back in court because the state won an appeal. it was based on the argument that at the time of the 1999 hearing the judge skipped a step deciding she had been rehabilitated before she was even tried. >> now susan would have to speak. all this time she was quiet. >> i wasn't allowed to go out and play with the other kids. i had to stay in the house and take care of my two brothers. i cooked and cleaned. i was like the mother. >> and she told the court since she was 7 years old her mother routinely beat her. >> how often were you beat?

>> it seemed like once or twice a week. >> the grim story of susan's entire childhood came to the courtroom in her own words. first, about her stepfather. >> he sexually abused you over what period of time? >> sexually, one time that i remember that he called me in the room. >> most of the abuse -- >> most of the abuse was physical beatings. and i guess because of the fact i wasn't his child and -- >> but your mother, she knew that was going on? the beatings? >> she knew the beatings was going on. >> susan explained to the judge there was no one she could turn to for help. >> my mother believed a child should be seen and not heard. there were times i would tell her things but she didn't believe me so therefore i just kept things to myself. >> oh, look at her. >> but a childhood neighbor, florence barnes, tells a different story about susan's mother. >> she spent quality time with

her children. she was interested in what her children did. >> susan told the court that just days before the shooting her mother told her she was splitting up their family, sending susan to live with her great grandmother and her two brothers to live with their father, news a fragile and emotional teenager could not bear to hear. >> she was getting married again and she didn't want us. >> so at the time this happened you knew that you were going to be separated from your brothers? >> yes. >> did you have a close relationship with your brothers? >> i did. but you know, sometimes i was mean to them because i act like the parent. yes, i did love my brothers. >> susan's brothers say it wasn't until years later that they heard their mother wanted to separate them. after years of alleged abuse, susan described how she reached a breaking point.

>> you did in fact shoot the gun and shot that one time? >> yes. >> there was only one shot fired? >> yes. >> and after that you ran and hid behind the curtain? >> yes. >> the pain of testifying in an open court came to a stop when susan got some welcome news. the state cut a deal with her. >> as far as i understand, there's been a plea negotiation in this case? >> yes, your honor. the state at this time is willing to withdraw the charge of murder and place a charge of manslaughter. >> susan pleaded guilty to manslaughter and avoided a long and painful trial. she was now a confessed killer, but she was not sent to jail. that's because the court treated her as a juvenile and the judge believed she had already been rehabilitated. >> i just wish that it had been different. i as an adult today understand a lot that i didn't back then.

>> all of the secrets were finally out and the painful questions answered. >> this woman clearly has been rehabilitated, and since the sole purpose of the law at that time is rehabilitation, this court doesn't feel it has to go any further. i won't go into a disposition where she will be sentenced to time already served and the case will be closed out. mrs. watson, good luck in the future. okay? it's over for you. >> some people say oh, she didn't go to jail. but i've been in jail all my life. they don't understand that. my life has been anything but normal. >> susan's attorney says this case sends a strong message pertaining to juvenile law. >> she's not asking that anyone believe that it's something she should have done, but she did suffer for it and she did turn her life around and she is helping others. >> susan watson is trying to let go of her past, but her brother george is just starting to cope with the reality of what happened to his mother. are you better off now knowing

who killed your mother than you were before? >> i still hurt. i still cry about it. i still long for my mother's touch and smile. i don't think no one should be allowed to cleanly get away with murder. >> george and susan did not speak for years until recently. george says he is still furious but he's trying to work on forgiving his sister. susan and her younger brother, david, still keep in touch. >> i hurt my brothers dearly. it affected their lives a great deal. and i really wish i could turn back the hands of time. >> over time and through counseling susan has come to peace with her relationship with her mother. >> i found out that my mother was abused when she was a kid. my grandfather used to beat her, and that's how she was raised. the cycle repeated itself. >> susan credits rehab and alcoholics anonymous and believing in a higher power with

helping to turn her life around. >> i've prayed a lot. i believe that i was forgiven for my sins and things i had done in the past although i found it hard to forgive myself, but i believe god did. god has given me a chance to redeem myself and to do good. >> this is something she's going to carry with her for the rest of her life. for the rest of her life it's going to be there. and i applaud her. i don't know if i would have had the strength to come forth to america and put this out there. >> john, a counselor who works with troubled teens, thinks it is no coincidence that he and susan found each other. >> what i do for a living and the situation that surrounds susan's life, this was something that was meant to be. the journey for her to heal and

that her family will heal and that george would heal and david would heal. >> susan hopes her experiences help other families. >> america needs to wake up to their children who are longing for affection. >> their voices are crying out, and sometimes we don't hear them. we have to listen to our children. we have to read the writing on the walls. >> the big lesson susan hopes her story can teach children in trouble is the need to speak out, not act out. >> because making the wrong decision could change one's life drastically. >> the woman who took her own mother's life says she will continue to struggle but will find peace through her volunteer work. >> my heart aches, but i still have to go on with my life, and i can't change it but if i could make this world a better place, then i will. and help other people.