Members of the grand jury heard 9 days of testimony but needed less than 4 hours to decide who they believed killed Amy Yates. They did find that there was sufficient evidence to indict Chris Gossett for the offense of involuntary manslaughter.

Tom Yates was satisfied.  The right person would finally be held responsible for killing Amy. But then the DA reported the second part of the grand jury’s decision.

Because Gossett was 16 when he committed the act this case will transferred back down to juvenile court who has jurisdiction.

Gossett would be tried under the old law. That meant two years in jail was harshest punishment we could get.

Outside the grand jury room, Amy’s father exploded.

Tom Yates: Unreal, unreal, they are going to give that boy two years for the murder of my daughter!

In Tom Yates’ mind his daughter’s murder demanded a much harsher punishment.    

Police wrestled Yates to the ground, while a devastated Jean Gossett took her son to jail.

Jean Gossett: Well I brought him in and that’s like giving your kid over to the devil.  He is not guilty.

Gossetts arrest  brought huge relief to Johnathon Adams. Now a 15-year-old trying to rebuild a life outside of jail. His thoughts are often about Amy.

Johnathon Adams: She meant so much to me. I can just sit there and doing stuff and the next thing you know she pops in my mind. And I’ll just sit there and think about that about what happened.  I don’t see why anybody would want to kill her. I mean, I was real good friends with her. I didn’t do nothing wrong.

Johnathon says he made up those statements about playing with Amy the day she died because he thought it was the only way investigators would let him go.

Johnathon Adams: I was wanting to go home. I didn’t know anything. I’d never been questioned before. At first a couple times keep telling them “I didn’t do it, I didn’t do it.” Then they were like say it again cause they were telling me they kept calling me a liar and all this and so I just wanted to go home.

Although Chris Gossett is now charged in the killing, a conviction will be another matter.  Sheriff’s investigators including Chief Deputy Brad Robinson still don’t believe Gossett is a killer.

Stafford: When you’re on the witness stand and the defense attorney for Chris Gossett asks “Do you think Chris did it?” What are you going to say?

Robinson: I’m going to have to say no.

Tom Yates knows a trial jury may be reluctant to convict Gossett if deputies don’t believe he did it.  But since the indictment, Yates has won a big victory.  The prosecutor  has decided to try Gossett as an adult.  If convicted, the teen known as the gentle giant could spend a decade in prison.

Tom Yates: Until her killer is brought to justice and gets the time that he deserves, I’m not gonna be able to move on and I won’t put it behind me.

As he struggles with the future he remembers the past to commemorate the two year anniversary of her death, Tom had his own personal memorial for Amy tatooed on his arm.

Tom Yates:  You know houses burn down. Pictures fade away and memories you can lose ‘em, but this will follow to me to my grave.”

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A killing in Carrollton Images: Carrollton crime scene Images: Amy Yates Tom Yates on a father's grief Evidence: Johnathon Adams admissions Why do people confess to crimes they did not commit? Images: Chris Gossett's police interview Crime scene diagrams Why confessions should be electronically recorded Carrollton Murder Section Front   Add Carrollton Murder headlines to your news reader: