'Always laughing': OK family honors memory of 6-year-old murdered by her own father
BETHANY, Okla. (KFOR) — The family of a six-year-old girl who Bethany Police say was murdered by her own father before he killed himself are honoring her memory with tributes.
Bethany Police Officers rushed to a home near NW 42nd Street around 11:30 June 29 after reports of a father shooting his daughter shortly before shooting himself. Police later identified the father as 29-year-old Billy Feaster and his daughter as 6-year-old Elizabeth Feaster.
Tiana Folk, Elizabeth's mother, told News 4 Feaster was supposed to be keeping Elizabeth and his 9-year-old son Aeidan Feaster during a supervised visit over the weekend. Court records show folk and Feaster were in a custody battle that started in 2018. A judge granted Folk custody and gave Feaster supervised visitation for a handful of hours a week.
The morning of June 29, Folk said she received a call from one of Feaster's parents who was supposed to be supervising Feaster's visits that he had killed Elizabeth.
"She said, Billy killed Elizabeth," said Folk. "I said, what; and she started saying that she couldn't talk. She wasn't in the right mind. I said, okay, you know, whatever, and I disconnected with her and I called my team, the Oklahoma City Wellness team; and ended up telling them what happened."
Folk described Elizabeth as a little girl with a big personality who loved cooking with her family, being artistic and always laughing and dancing. She said she and her brother Aeidan looked after each other. Aeidan shared a few words of his own about his sister during an interview with News 4 Monday.
"If someone was bullying me, she'd be very sassy," said Aeidan.
News 4 employees also spoke with Elizabeth's grandma, and Tiana's mom, Jill Walsh who described her granddaughter as special, and said she exuded characteristics of an old soul.
"She just exuded love and happiness, and that smile. She didn't like me to cry and one time she came up to me and I was crying. I was just sad, she comes up to me, she wipes my face, she holds my cheeks, and she said, Nana why are you crying? I said, Elizabeth, you know, I'm just sad."
Walsh said it was devastating getting the same June 29 call that Elizabeth had been killed, and even more devastating seeing her daughter experience that level of grief.
"It's devastating," said Walsh. "Devastating. You know, her dad passed away to a car accident when she was in second grade. I had to tell her dad passed away. Then I had to turn around and tell her her baby girl's gone."
Aeidan also shared a few details about what he remembered the day of June 29.
"I woke up to screaming," said Aeidan. "They were telling me to lay back down."
News 4 asked Folk if she knows anything about a potential motive behind the shootings. She shared preliminary information from medical examiners, but News 4 is not elaborating out of respect to her family and their privacy. News 4 also asked Folk if she was aware a weapon was in the home her daughter was murdered. She said she was aware that their was a gun safe in the home, but wasn't aware that Billy Feaster would have been able to access it.
"They looked alike," Folk said, referring to Elizabeth and her father. "Why would you do that to your own kid?"
Walsh said she would like this instance to serve as a wake up call to state leaders, agencies and the justice system that re-evaluation is needed when it comes to custody arrangements. She said her family will be contacting them over the next several days for Elizabeth.
"We didn't follow our gut, we didn't follow our instinct because we were doing what we were supposed to and because of that Elizabeth isn't with us any longer," said Walsh
Folk says she's taking a break from work to grieve and spend time with her family. A fundraiser has been set up to support them during this difficult time.