A Christmas tree stood in the corner, its lights twinkling faintly against the backdrop of a living room that should have smelled of pine, cookies, and warm family cheer. Wrapped gifts were piled beneath its branches, their shiny paper reflecting the soft glow of strings of lights. Outside, snow might have been falling, coating the streets in a white hush. Inside, however, the calm of a holiday evening masked the horror that was about to unfold. A mother lay dead on the floor, her life extinguished in an instant. Beside her, a 13-year-old girl bled, clinging to the fragile thread...
Continues…