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Hey everyone, welcome back. I'm bringing you an exposed original
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series episode today and it centers around a twenty nine
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year old North Andover, Massachusetts police officer by the name
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of Kelsey Fitzsimmons. Now, in June of twenty twenty five,
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Kelsey was shot by a fellow officer of that same
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department by the name of Patrick Noonan as he was
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serving her a restraining order filed by her ex fiance,
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who was an area of firefighter. Now, Officer Noonan's side
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of that story was Officer Fitzsimmons drew her weapon upon
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being served this summons. She aimed that weapon at Noonan
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and pulled the trigger. However, she didn't chamber it, which
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caused him to defend himself and shoot her in the chest. Now,
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Fitzsimmons says she suffered from postpartum depression and was having
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a mental health episode and actually was attempting to shoot herself.
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We're going to break it all down today as well
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as what led up to all of this. So let's
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get into it. And this is going to be a story,
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y'all where everything is not as it appears in the beginning.
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So I'm going to start this one off by telling
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you a little about Kelsey Fitzsimmons.
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Now.
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Kelsey was born and raised in Mathune, Massachusetts. She grew
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up splitting time with both of her parents. They were divorced,
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but her upbringing was typical outside of that, and even
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though her parents were divorced, they both took care of
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her and it was kind of a loving thing on
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both sides. Now, according to some of her friends, Kelsey
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did have some struggles growing up. She had some what
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you would classify as mental health issues and alcohol issues,
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experimenting with alcohol, et cetera, but nothing that would be
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noted as serious. And in twenty fifteen, she graduates from
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Mathune High School and attends Fisher College in Massachusetts. And
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it was at Fisher College that she really worked hard.
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She was waiting tables as she pursued a degree in
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criminal justice, and in addition to that, she also had
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like an internship where she would check IDs in as
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they would enter and leave dormitories on campus. This was
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for a security company and kind of gave her her
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first exposure to law enforcement. Now, in twenty twenty, she
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did graduate with honors from that university and a degree
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in criminal justice. Very smart girl. Now, Initially, Kelsey's plan
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was to go straight from graduation into the police academy.
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She had a dream she wanted to be a law
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enforcement officer. However, noting the timing here, twenty twenty early
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twenty twenty, this is the start of COVID, right, and
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no academies were taking new applicants. They were all essentially
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shut down at this point. So she faced all of
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this and rather than sit around and wait for the
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world to open back up, which when was the world
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going to open back up? Nobody had any idea back then,
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Kelsey decides to go to law school. So she enrolls
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in the Massachusetts School of Law and she attends for
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three semesters, and she's still working hard. While she's attending
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law school, she actually worked as a paralegal for a
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local law firm kind of learned more about the law,
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and she comes to the realization that being a lawyer
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just isn't going to be for her. And about that time,
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she realizes that, as luck would have it, the police
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academies would start taking students again. COVID was kind of
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it wasn't going away, but it was to the point
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that you could open things up again. So Kelsey starts
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out by applying and getting a job as a corrections
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officer for the Essex County Sheriff's Department. And she was
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looking to gain some practical law enforcement experience and thought
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this would make for a good start. And look, I
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know tons of people that are now way high up
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on the law enforcement ladder, if you will, and most
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of them started off as corrections officers, so this is
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a good place to start. She handled inmate transfers from
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the prison to the courthouse, and she also worked in
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the perimeter security section of the prison for over two years.
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And I have kind of a thought on why she
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only worked that perimeter security section. She is a very
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pretty girl. I thought when I was originally researching this
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that man, as attractive as she is, I couldn't imagine
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her working a tier inside of a prison. It would
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not be a good idea at all, trust me. And
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so the powers that be that hired her probably thought
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the same thing, and they were like, look, we're gonna
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let her work the perimeter security section, which is the
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outside part. You don't want someone that is as attractive
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as Kelsey Fitzsimmons is working like a freaking tear. That
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would be not a good idea. So while she was
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working for the Sheriff's office, she moved to North and Over, Massachises,
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and she really falls in love with life inside of
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Northover and she applies for the North Andover Police Department. Now,
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with a lot of police departments, most of them, I
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would say, you don't just interview with human resources. You
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go in front of a panel kind of like a board.
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In that panel is typically made up of other police
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officers within that department. They question you. They ask you
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all kinds of different questions, everything from what is your
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favorite color? To have you ever been convicted of a crime?
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What types of crimes have you done that you've not
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been caught for? I mean, it runs the gamut, and
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it's part of the process. So Kelsey passes this board
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with flying colors, she passes the background check they perform,
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and she is hired on at the North Andover Police Department.
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And the next step from there is going to the
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police Academy. Now, this academy is about six months in length.
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It's not a short program, and you learn everything from
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shooting a gun if you don't already know how to
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do that, or learn how to properly shoot it, and
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you learn fighting techniques, all sorts of things at these
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police academies. Kelsey graduates from that police academy in May
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of twenty twenty four. Now during this time, just prior
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to entering that academy, Kelsey meets a firefighter and his
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name is Justin Elaine, who was a North end Over firefighter.
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This is in September of twenty twenty three. Now, that
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relationship quickly progresses, and by March of twenty twenty four,
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Justin moves in to Kelsey's home. They met the way
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most people meet these days, via the Internet Facebook. Specifically,
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they go on a few dates and they seemingly fall
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in love. On October tenth of twenty four. They are
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so in love, in fact, that they get engaged with
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plans to marry in October of twenty twenty five. Then
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in November of twenty twenty four, she becomes pregnant with
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their son. Now, little about Justin. He is thirty two
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years old at the time of the incident that I'm
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about to tell you about. He grew up in Lancaster, Massachusetts.
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He's a college graduate. He had a degree in business management,
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after college, he decided to do kind of a cross
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country trip. Wasn't really sure what he wanted to do
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with his life, and this was a great time to
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not give a shit, right, So he takes off and
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he goes across country and he ends up in Utah
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where he becomes a counselor at a youth camp. And
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it was a youth camp designed to help people with addiction,
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and there were also some adults there as well. Now
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telling you all of that, this seems like a very
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well rounded guy, right, seems like a great guy, got
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his head on his shoulders. If you will, college graduate,
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he's going to help people with addiction. Man picture perfect.
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After about eight months, he goes back to Massachusetts and
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he decides he wants to service country and he enlists
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in the United States Army. And at this point it's
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in twenty seventeen and he thrives in the US Army.
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He actually tries out for the Green Berets, the special
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forces in the Army, but he gets hurt pretty bad
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during training in the Green Berets and he tears a
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bunch of ligaments, and that kind of grinded that dream
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to a halt. If you will, This is in twenty nineteen.
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From there, he gets honorably discharged from the Army and
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he returns back to Massachusetts. He works several different jobs,
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tries a few things out, and eventually he becomes a
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North and Over firef in August of twenty twenty one.
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He also goes back to school and earns a second
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bachelor's degree, this time in fire science. As I said,
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he meets Kelsey on Facebook, sparks fly and on the surface,
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this is like the perfect love story, right. So, picking
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up again with this October of twenty twenty four pregnancy,
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everything seems fine, although Justin would say that Kelsey's behavior
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during this time would become erratic. Hey, she's pregnant. Things
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are gonna change. Her hormones are going through all kinds
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of changes. All you ladies out there listening know what
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I'm talking about. So shortly after becoming pregnant, approximately twenty
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weeks in tour pregnancy, Kelsey responds to a nine to
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one one call while she's at work as a police officer.
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She goes to the home and upon entering the scene,
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she discovers a an infant dead in an apparent murder suicide.
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And this type of scene, y'all would have a profound
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effect on even the most seasoned of officers. But a
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rookie female officer being twenty weeks pregnant, probably the first
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time she's ever seen anything like that, I would imagine
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this was absolutely devastating for her to see. According to Kelsey,
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this created a lot of internal trauma in her life
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and it started some pretty early mental health struggles for
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her personally. So on February sixteenth of twenty twenty five,
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she does indeed give birth to a son who was
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five weeks early, pretty premature. Long story short, The baby
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was very healthy after spending a few weeks in the hospital,
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and Kelsey is described as a devoted mother, rarely apart
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from her baby. Now. Shortly thereafter, like weeks after the
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birth of her son, she is diagnosed with postpartum depression.
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She acknowledges the condition and she quickly seeks treatment. She
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meets with a therapist and she gets placed under psychiatric care.
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She surrenders her department issued firearm and at least one
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personal weapon during this time. This is in mid March
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of twenty twenty five, and it was serious. It was
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causing an enormous strain with her fiance just In at
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the time, but she seems to respond to treatment for
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that postpartum depression very well, and in June of twenty
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twenty five, June eighteenth, she's medically cleared to return to
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work and her firearm license was re stated. So on
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June twenty eighth and twenty ninth of twenty twenty five,
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Kelsey and Justin they have what is known as a
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Jack and Jill party, and they go to Maine to
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have this party. And y'all, for those not familiar with
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what that is, it's basically a bachelor slash bachelorette party
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where both wedding parties celebrate the impending marriage together. And
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let's just say, things did not go well by any
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stretch of the imagination. According to Justin, Kelsey got really
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drunk at this party and she allegedly punched Justin in
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the face with a closed fist three times. At this party,
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Justin flood the scene. He gets a hotel room and
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after he left, friends would tell him later and it
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would come out later that she would remain combative with
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the guests that were remain aimed at this party, and
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they had a ton of them all his friends, all
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her friends. They were in this big bungalow.
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She was so.
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Combative, in fact, that her friends were concerned she would
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harm herself. She may harm Justin, she may harm her baby.
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And long story short, the weekend party ends early and
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Kelsey goes home without Justin. Now, two days later, Justin
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and his sister Courtney, they got to the police and
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knew and over and Justin tells the police he wants
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to file an emergency restraining order because he feared for
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his baby's life. Now, in this restraining order, he makes
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the following allegations. One, he alleged Kelsey would punch herself
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in the stomach while pregnant and make comments about killing
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herself and the baby. Two he claimed she told him
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that she had nothing to live for and threatened to
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take the baby far, far away, which he interpreted as
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a suicide threat. Three he mentioned her punching him in
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the face three times at that jack and jail party
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that I told you about. And four he said he
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feared she would kill the baby at any moment. So
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police they got to serve this restraining owner. And on
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June thirtieth of twenty twenty six, around two point thirty pm,
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they faxed this to a judge to get that judge
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to sign it and send it back so they can
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serve it now. Earlier that morning, and this is a Monday, y'all.
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Justin and Kelsey, they were exchanging texts back and forth,
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and I'm going to pick up here with Kelsey herself
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kind of detailing exactly what occurred this day, picking up
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with that morning, and this is per her testimony at trial.
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He had spoken through text and on the phone in
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the morning. I was asking if he would come home
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because he hadn't been home in days, to be with Kayden.
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While I went to work.
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And his response basically was I can pick him up
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and watch him. And I said, you're not a babysitter.
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So there was a bit of argument about that. Your argument, Yeah,
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I was like, you're his dad, You're not a babysitter.
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You can come home.
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I don't understand picking him up and watching him. That
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was very odd for me to hear as his father.
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Moms don't like when dad say they're going to babysit