#JusticeForKatiePalmer

Episode Transcript
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(00:14):
Hey friends, Welcome to the show. I'm your host, Melanie Peterson,
and today marks the beginning of ashort series I'm doing about Katie Palmer.
She was a science teacher from Dennison, Texas, who was killed after being
hit by a truck while she wasout on a walk with her husband John,
on the morning of April twenty first, twenty twenty. What I'm going
to cover in these episodes is nothingshort of a travesty. The person who

(00:38):
killed Katie still walks free. Theofficer who investigated the crash displayed poor and
biased judgment and continues to rise throughthe ranks of his department. The District
Attorney's office seems to be dragging theirfeet in terms of bringing this case to
trial, to a place where accountabilitycan be taken. And the law does

(01:00):
but so many of us have beenraised to believe that it does protect us
and make sure that when something wronghappens, the offending person is held responsible.
But what happens when the choices ofthe responding officer are why the person
responsible for the death of a lovedone is not being held accountable and walks
free the same day your soulmate istaken from you. I will warn you

(01:23):
that these episodes will be difficult tolisten to. You're going to hear firsthand
the experiences that this family has gonethrough, and it is absolutely heartbreaking.
As I go into more details aboutthe investigation and how mishandled it was next
week, I have no doubt inmy mind that you will be as saddened
and disgusted as I am at howthis case has been handled, and I

(01:46):
hope that it'll inspire you to getinvolved however you feel as necessary. Buckle
up, my friends, this oneis going to be a bumpy ride.
This is Mask of Sanity. KatiePalmer was the beloved wife of John Palmer.

(02:25):
She was mother to Bella and Brandon. She was a daughter, a
friend, a favorite amongst her students. Everyone who crossed paths with her felt
her warmth just radiating out of her. In fact, on the same day
she was killed, Katie, anavid animal lover with six pets of her
own, posted a video to herYouTube channel inviting her students to bring their

(02:46):
pets to class, and in thevideo, she talked about how difficult everything
was given the pandemic and school shuttingdown, and how they were probably all
missing the classroom, Guinea Pig,Winnipeg and honey beear. This is just
one example of how much she lovedher students and wanted to help them adjust

(03:07):
however she could, to the zoomclasses to not seeing their friends every day
amid the shutdown at the beginning ofthe COVID nineteen pandemic last year. She
had an incredibly bright future. WhenI spoke to her mother, Ronda a
few weeks ago for the first time, Ronda told me how she and Katie
had talked about Katie getting into politics, running for the Senate or the House

(03:28):
of Representatives in five years. Weneed women like her as a leader,
Ronda said. Armed with intelligence fordays, Katie earned at four point five
GPA and was even recruited by DukeUniversity. She would graduate from Austin College
with a Bachelor of Arts in biology. There was no doubt she had the
brains and the drive. She wasactive. She loved everything that life had

(03:51):
to offer. After college, Katiebecame a teacher, sharing her passion for
science with her students, especially inrobotics, stem and biology. She was
recognized as Teacher of the Year threetimes while she taught at Henry Scott Middle
School. Her students adored her.Her fellow teachers and administration have also felt

(04:12):
the massive blow of losing someone likeher in their school. She was the
prime example of the kind of personyou want as a role model for your
children. She was passionate, hardworking. She recognized the need to help
others by volunteering at Hagerman National WildlifeRefuge as well as Dennison Parks and Recreation.
She also created a program called careComforters, in which she encouraged her

(04:35):
students to make comforters that would thenbe delivered to local nursing homes and hospitals.
On Wednesday, April twenty first,twenty twenty one, this will mark
the one year anniversary of the crashthat caused Katie's death. Her husband John,
her mother Ronda, and many otherfamily and friends who support them have

(04:56):
been working tirelessly to shed more lighton this case, the ineptitude of the
ones who investigated the case. Theman responsible for killing Katie and severely injuring
John Corey Todd Foster. On Apriltwenty first, twenty twenty, John Palmer
would experience the worst day of hislife when he woke up that morning and

(05:17):
asked his wife Katie, to goon a walk with him. They had
no idea that within minutes of leavingtheir home their entire world would get turned
upside down in the most horrific wayimaginable. They left their eldest to keep
an eye on things, saying thatthey were going for a walk and to
maybe see if they could spot anest of kill deer that Katie had spotted

(05:39):
in the days before at the nearbygolf course. Kill deer are interesting in
the fact that they nest on theground, so it's a real treat if
you can spot them, especially forsomeone with a passion for nature like Katie.
As they walked along Glenwood Drive facingtraffic, trying to avoid the dew
covered grass that was glistening in thesun so that their pants and shoe didn't

(06:00):
get wet, they were just takingsome time and enjoying each other's company before
the day really got going. Thenext thing they knew, John and Katy
were airborne pain shooting through their bodies. As they landed about seventy feet away
in the grass. John was conscious, ignoring the pain and looking for Katy.
He spotted her and As he crawledover to her sang her name over

(06:21):
and over, he couldn't see anyblood, and then all of a sudden,
Katy let out a horrible moan.She was laying on her left side,
and he gently rolled her on toher back and laid next to her,
holding her hand. At this point, she was unresponsive and not breathing,
as John urged her to take abreath. Finally, Katy gasped,

(06:41):
and for a split second, Johnfell a sense of hope that things might
be okay. She was breathing,but only every ten to fifteen seconds,
and as the sirens got closer,her breathing became less and less frequent.
As Katy looked up at the sky, her eyes were fixed and she isn't
blinking, and deep down a thoughtcrossed John's mind. Could this be the

(07:04):
last time he was going to seehis wife alive? What do you say
to the love of your life asyou're watching them slip away in front of
you? For this first episode,I've invited Katie's husband, John and her
mother Ronda to come on the showand just talk about Katie. Talk about
what they loved about her, theirfavorite memories, and their experiences since the

(07:26):
crash. This episode is meant tobe a tribute to Katie Palmer and an
open platform for her family to speakabout the case as much as they can.
I want everyone to know who Katiewas and from the people who loved
her the most. You know,her life was cut short by someone who
doesn't seem to fully grasp the impactthat his choices have made on the lives
of so many others. And trustme, we will get into all of

(07:49):
that next week, but for now, here are John Palmer and Ronda Nail
to tell us about Katie Palmer.She was such a free spirit. Like
it. It's funny because we wewe always gave her a hard time.
Um, she was a notorious planner. She had to plan everything. She

(08:11):
gets that from she gets that fromher father, Tony, and which you
know she was. She was reallyresponsible. But she was a planner.
And then but what was funny isthat on the flip side, she was
also a free spirit just like hermom. So was the best of both

(08:37):
worlds. I mean we again,we always gave her a hard time for
overplanning everything. I think I've statedbefore, Um, she loved to travel
just like her mom. But Ithink she got just as much pleasure from
planning the trip from how to getto A to B than what to do
when she got to be and thenfrom be back home. So, UM,

(09:03):
I just remember when we first met, Uh, she didver care of
the world. I mean she shedidver cared the world. She was fun
to be around. UM. Iremember one day in particular, Um,
we both went to Austin College andI had a capstone economics class and this

(09:26):
class was obviously very important and ifyou if you didn't pass this class,
then did not get the piece ofpaper with your name and the college on
it, which was kind of thewhole point behind uh you know the four
or four years agoing at yeah alittle bit. Um. Now, I
had two friends that were in thatclass, and I think I missed the

(09:52):
third third class in a row togo formula with with Katie over at Rohanna's
place. And I remember them beinglike, what are you doing? I
was like, well, I wasgoing four wheeling and never gone four wheel
before. But all she had todo was ask and I and I was
there. And it's weird that uhm hmma. Never hits easier that at

(10:31):
that time in that field Um.Remember, you know, you you don't

(10:54):
remember moments until after they happened,So I couldn't tell you anything more about
that day other than remember she waswearing um gray shorts and in a white

(11:15):
shirt, and remember four wheeling withher and just remembering the feeling I had,
And right then and there I knewshe was it. And I mean

(11:41):
it was it was that moment.And it's funny, I always remember that
stuff. She was kind of thepolar opposite. She was like, we
ain't went four wheel and I waslike, oh yeah, you know,
we went four wheels. And itwas just everything about her. I loved
me with her. She she wantedto always do something, never sit around.

(12:07):
Um. It was never dull withher. She you know, we
we've said it many times before.She loves science. She absolutely loved nature.
She would take us to Hagerman togo look at birds and that she
was big into ornithology in college.She'd come over to my apartment. She'd

(12:28):
had these flash cards and I'd haveto read out the bird names. Um,
not the not the common names,but the scientific ones that I could
not pounce. We'd have the characteristicsand she would guess them, you know,
her phone still has her calls andas her phone rings as bird calls.

(12:50):
She absolutely loved that. UM.I love science, love nature.
UM. The thing she cherished themost, hands down family. She put
family before anything, and that wasjust another one of her many great traits.

(13:16):
UM. She loved her family,adored her mom. I don't think
a day went by where she didn'teither see Rhonda or talked talked to Rhonda
and UM. Her dad lived alittle far further away Tony. UM,
she talked to him about the weatheranytime, and we've said it before,

(13:39):
anytime there was a particular cell thatmoved moved through I think I swear like
two minutes before that that would comeup on the TV or anything like that,
it was Tony calling Katie and they'dhave this, you know, one
or two were back back and forthabout about the wayther like you know,

(14:01):
yep, it looks bad, suredoes wonder what's gonna happen? I don't
know, have you seen this justjust to back and forth, like they
just kind of morphed into the sameperson. But her her love for her
family was UM just again one ofthe one of the many things that I

(14:22):
loved, loved about her and sheadored her kids. She adored her kids,
and she had she she was strong, you know, not only was
she beautiful, but she was smart, intelligent and strong. Um. I
was deployed to Africa when Katie waspregnant with Bella, and not one time

(14:48):
didn't she call me plaining, youknow, like why aren't you here?
I'm doing this by by myself.She was so strong. She had great
support with her family and her momand dad, but she was strong.
She did it and I got backtwo weeks later, two or three weeks

(15:11):
later at DFW of the terminal,walked outside and there she was with with
Bella, strong, smart, verysmart, beautiful. She was she was
everything. And she had a photographicmemory. So I remember one time we

(15:35):
went to SMU and they kept askingquestions about the meaning of the art that
we were looking at. She keptgiving these at length descriptions of this art
back to the guy and he wassaying. She was a senior in high
school. And the man that wasgiven it said, how do you know

(15:56):
this much about these pieces? Andshe said, well, I came on
a turn in the eighth grade andyou told us this. And he was
like, but that's what I dealtwith her whole life. Yeah, it
runs in our family. She wasone of the ones that got it.
So that's what we knew. Shewas gearing up for bigger things. We

(16:18):
talked about it two days before shedied. I said, you've done as
much. You've gone as far asyou can go. She brought STEM programs
to this community, to this school, and I said, we need you
know, I've been telling her thatsince she was little. We need leaders
like you to take us on.She goes, Mom, I need four

(16:42):
more, four to five more years, and I'm ready. And that was
We were hiking six miles the Sundaybefore she got killed Tuesday morning. We
hiked every day, either men allof us, or him and kat or
me and Katie. And we wentto New York City, me and her
and her daughter and our niece.In July last year, okay, July

(17:08):
twenty nineteen, for Bella's thirteenth birthday. We walked three to five miles in
five days. It's really easy todo here. It is there. You
walk everywhere when you're here. Yeah, but she you know, she had
studied, and that's what I dotoo. When we travel, you know,
I'll study for a year where Iwant to go, what I want
to do, how I want todo it. And so I said,

(17:30):
this one's yours because I want youto start taking over my spot, and
so she had us. I mean, we got to see we got to
do everything in New York City plusthree Broadway shows. So it was fantastic.
It was the best. It wasBella's birthday, thirteenth birthday. So
I can't imagine having a better Whichis why Kenny and I got along so

(17:53):
well, because I'm pretty much,yes, she could pack. I'm not
lying three to four days in advance. I get it. That's fine.
I mean, like I am,I am throwing in the dryer morning up
and she's like, you gotta bekidding. I'm like, oh man,

(18:14):
we have an hour and a half. Yeah. Balanced each other out that
way, absolutely. It was.The loss of someone that you love is
incredibly tragic, especially when it's unexpectedlike this, and it should not happen
like this. Unfortunately, cases likeKatie's occur more often than they should,

(18:38):
and because of this, her familyhas stepped up and taken a place beside
Michelle and Dwayne Carney in support ofwhat they're trying to get done. In
the state of Texas. The Carney'sson, Colton, was killed in January
twenty seventeen when he was hit bya car as he walked to work.
As the law in Texas currently stands, it quote leaves it up to the

(19:00):
individual law enforcement officer to decide whetheror not to conduct a blood alcohol test
on a motorist when they hit apedestrian end quote. In Colton's case,
his body was tested for drugs andalcohol, but the person who hit him
was not. Now I know,to hear this, it doesn't seem to
make much sense. Why isn't thisthe standard already? And it's also exactly

(19:23):
what happened when Katie Palmer was killed. The driver of the F two fifty
truck, Corey Todd Foster, didnot have his blood tested at the discretion
of Department of Public Safety trooper toReef Alcateyve. And this is despite Alcative
stating in the bodycam footage that hecould smell alcohol as he stood there and
spoke with a Foster, and Fosterhimself was unable to accurately say for sure

(19:51):
when he stopped drinking the night before, So instead of sending Foster to the
hospital for a blood test that wouldhave determined whether or not he was telling
the truth when he said he hadn'tdrank since the night before, or if
he had any other substances in hisbody. Alcateybe gave Foster a lift home.
You hurt that right. He gavethe man who had just severely injured

(20:14):
two people by hitting them with histruck on the opposite side of the road
a lift home instead of using commonsense and getting this man's blood tested.
And again, we will get moreinto the suspected reason behind that decision in
next week's episode. So with ColtonCarney's case, Texas State Representative Terry Mesa

(20:37):
filed a house bill also known asColton's Law, which, if it passes,
will require that quote, anyone whohits a pedestrian in this state causing
serious bodily injury or death should notbe allowed to leave the scene of that
accident without having been tested for thepresence of drugs or alcohol in their body.
End quote. And you know what, I completely agree with that it

(21:02):
should not be just the victim whowas tested, but the driver should be
too. So hopefully when this billpasses, it will bring a sense of
relief for any families who have beenaffected like this in the aftermath of Katie's
death and realizing that this is somethingthat needs to be addressed and changed.
John and Ronda traveled to Austin,Texas on Thursday, April eighth, twenty

(21:26):
twenty one, to testify in frontof the Texas House Committee on Homeland Security
and Public Safety in support of whatwas previously known as House Bill twelve eighty
seven. It's now called House Billfive fifty eight, and again, if
passed, this bill will require anymotorist who hits and either seriously injures or
kills a pedestrian to submit to ablood test for alcohol and or drugs.

(21:51):
Obviously, if this bill had alreadybeen in effect, then Corey Foster would
have been required to submit to ablood test instead of tarif Alkative making the
decision to not ask for a bloodtest despite being asked by another officer at
the scene, despite Foster presenting witha point zero six on the portable breath

(22:11):
test fifty minutes after the crash andreaking of alcohol, plus the fact that
he just hit two pedestrians who werewalking on the opposite side of the route.
Being able to have this opportunity tospeak publicly to lawmakers who are able
to enact the change needed to ensurethat people are held responsible for the harm
they cause was something that neither Johnor Rhonda has ever shied away from.

(22:36):
This is for Katie. What theydid is for Colton. This is for
anyone who has ever felt like theyweren't getting the support they need from the
people we expect to protect us.And I would also like to share the
audio of John and Ronda's testimony atthis time. Great thank you. The

(22:56):
chair calls John Palmer and Ronda Nail. John Palmer and on deck Ronda Nail,
he state your name, who yourepresent in your position on the bill,
John Palmer, I represent myself andI'm for this bill. So I

(23:17):
stated my name is John Palmer.My wife's name was Katie Palmer, as
a victim and now widower because ofthe actions of an impaired and reckless driver,
I'm in full support of the HouseBill five fifty eight as long as
this bill requires automatic blood testing formotorists that seriously injured or kill pedestrians.

(23:38):
On April twenty first of last year, my wife and I would for a
morning walk seven thirty am. Fifteenminutes later, my neighbor, Corey Todd
Foster crossed over the roadway and hitus from behind as we were walking alongside
the road facing traffic. He hitus so hard he knocked us out of

(24:00):
our shoes. We went seventy feetinto the grass. I couldn't walk how
to crawl over to my wife holdher hand as she died in front of
me. Fifty minutes later, DPStrooper Tariff Alcatebe, a family friend of
Foster or formed a PBT on Fosterand Foster that morning, smelling strongly of

(24:23):
alcohol. Fifteen minutes later, blewa point zero six. Fifty minutes later,
smelling of alcohol, blew a pointzero six. Alcatebe never asked Foster
for a blood test, even whenasked by another trooper on scene if he

(24:48):
was going to get blood. Tariffdeclined. The poor and biased decisions that
day contributed to Foster not being arrested, not being charged with the crime.
Drawing Foster's blood that day should havebeen automatic, shouldn't be left up to
an officer, but instead of beingdriven to the hospital for a blood drawl.

(25:11):
The officer drove his family friend home. Foster has continued to drink and
drive after killing Katie. He's neverbeen held accountable. Why isn't blood draw
already automatic? My wife and Idid not have a choice that day when
we were sent to the hospital.My wife's killer made that choice for us

(25:36):
when he ran us over. Avote for this bill is a vote for
justice and accountability as long as bloodtesting is automatic for any motorist that seriously
injures or kills a pedestrian. Katiecould have been your wife, your mother,
your sister, your daughter, yourcousin, your friend, or your
soul mate. You could be me. You could still be fighting for justice

(26:03):
one year later, but we're notgoing to stop. Twenty years with My
soul mate was taken away by menacewith a thirty year record. It has
never been held accountable. Victims haverights, Victims and their families deserve answers,
not more questions. Thank you sothank you for your testimony, and

(26:33):
we do we are sorry for yourloss. Remembers any questions. Thank you
for your testimony. Check calls RondeNail Frank Sellers on Deck Frank Sellers and
if you Please state your name,your position on the bill, and who

(26:56):
you represent. Hello. I'm RondeNail and I am represent myself and I
support hb FI fifty eight as longas it requires mandatory blood tests in the
event of a pedestrian fatality or seriousbodily injury. On April twenty first,
twenty twenty, my daughter Katie Palmerand her husband, John Palmer were struck

(27:18):
by a known reckless driver. Katiewas killed and John was critically injured.
The driver has a thirty year historyof reckless driving, public intoxication in DWI
citations. According to the trooper,he smelt strongly of alcohol on the morning
of the accident, yet blood testswere not obtained, the driver was not

(27:40):
arrested, and the justice process wasinterrupted. Our family will never know the
extent of his impairment on that day, whether he had drugs in addition to
alcohol in his system, because bloodtests were never taken. My daughter's home
was very near to my home,in less than two tenths of a mile
from where she lost her life.Arrived at the crash scene to see my

(28:02):
daughter Katie's long curly hair hanging overa gurning and a medivac helicopter. John
Palmer was loaded in an ambulance andsurrounded by the EMTs. I frantically screamed,
where are the kids. Where arethe kids? The officers said,
white kids. I started running totheir home. When I reached their daughter
and sons, I gathered them togetherand told them their mom and dad had

(28:25):
been struck by truck. They askedif they were dead, and I had
to truthfully answer, I don't know. These children have suffered so much.
John Palmer did not get to seebe with his children when they said their
final goodbyes to their mother because hewas an ICU in a different city.
My grandchildren have been devastated by theloss of their mother and live in fear

(28:48):
of losing their father. Every singleday. John Palmer lives with the loss
of his soulmate. I struggled througheach day without my daughter who was my
constant companion, and my son thatwas his only sister. I do not
want one more family to experience theagony of this injustice. My daughter deserved

(29:08):
better, and each family who hassuffered a similar loss deserves better. Katie
was a smart, beautiful teacher,a scientist, a community leader of volunteers.
She has missed every moment of everyday. In my opinion, it
is not unreasonable to collect all theevidence at a potential crime scene. However,

(29:30):
it is unreasonable to allow a criminalto leave the scene with the evidence
of their crime, especially when itis time sensitive. A great injustice was
done by allowing the driver to leavethe scene without a blood test. Without
those results, the victims, theirfamilies, and the prosecution are left blindfolded

(29:51):
in the search for justice. Iknow this because the man who killed my
daughter was driven home without consequence.Now my family lives in fear this man
who continues to drive up our streetsevery day. I would just like to
add that my daughter was never inthe hospital a day in her life.
She donated seven organs and this wasduring COVID and she was in such prime

(30:15):
shape that they were. And I'mstill getting thank you letters every day from
the Southwest Southwest. Thank you,ma'am, thank you so much for that
money. And any questions. Man, you can take some questions if you'd
like. I think Representative Patterson yourecognized to speak. Thank you for being

(30:37):
here. I'm originally from Grayson Countyand my sister in law Jamie Patterson,
who was Jamie Weems, went DustonCollege with your daughter and taught with her.
I think for a little while,Dennison and she talked to me about
y'all story multiple times, and Ijust want to thank y'all for your bravery,
for being here today and for comingdown and working on this change.

(30:59):
Thank you. You're very welcome.And I'm sure she told you a lot
about Katie. Katie worked for theRoss Piro Foundation, she was a signed,
she came down here and worked.The only thing more spectacular than her
beauty was her brain. And weliterally had a five year plan for her
to be here in five years.So it's a loss for all of us

(31:23):
about thank you. To stand upat a podium and talk about a situation
that has caused so much pain andanger and confusion and yet remain as composed
as both of them were. Tome, really speaks so much to the
kind of people John Palmer and RondaNeill are and the kind of person that

(31:45):
Katie Palmer was. They don't wantwhat happened to Katie and to John to
happen to someone else, and they'lldo whatever they can to not only get
justice for Katie, but to putan end to unnecessary tragedies like her and
Colton's deaths. They want the offendersto be held accountable and not protected by
their friends in high places. Johnand Ronda also spoke to me about their

(32:07):
experience testifying in front of the committeecomprised of members of the Texas House of
Representatives. We left again. Weleft Wednesday. Got there the night before.
He got to the Capitol about ninefifteen, nine thirty. Yeah.

(32:28):
Um, we thought we were goingto go on at about ten thirty.
We thought that's when the committee wasgoing to meet. They still had business
out on the floor. I thinklasted till about one forty five or so.
Then the committee uh commenced. Wedidn't meet until probably ten thirty.

(32:49):
Yeah. I was the last oneto talk. I was the last,
you know, the the people thatwere contesting it went behind, but I
was, oh, well, Idon't know after that, but anyway,
I was the last one to talkof our badge, correct. Correct.
So it was a Carny family thatwent first, and we actually met them,

(33:15):
you know, early in the morning. I'd say about eleven. They're
great people. I have nothing butrespect for them. They thought for four
years to get this bill to whereit's at now. The strength in the

(33:35):
commitment that that family has shown overthe past four years is amiable and spectacular.
They really loved their son as anyfamily would, but to go to
these links to ensure that another familydoesn't have to go through this, they
put their story out there. Sheemailed every single representative and Mainza is the

(34:04):
one that reached out to her.Miss Carney, I believe wrote the bill
or wrote the actual language in thebill, and spent a lot of time
on it. And it just goesto show how dedicated she is to ensuring
that other families don't go through Butthey've gone through and what we're going going

(34:27):
through now. We gave our testimonyagain about ten ten forty five and all
let Ronda speak on what you knowshe wants to talk about. But it
felt it felt great to get upit and to speak about the events that

(34:51):
happened to people that can make adifference. After giving my testimony, having
listened to the Carnies talk, aftergiving my testimony and listening to Ronda,
who again, just like Colton's mom, no parent should ever have to get

(35:13):
up there and relive a day likethat parents are supposed to outlive their kids,
and these two women and Colton's fathergot up there and then something that
I hope to God I'd never haveto do. And it was just a

(35:35):
tremendous amount of strength and courage forthem to get up there and talk about
that. After listening to Ronda speaksso eloquently about Katie, and then to
hear the feedback from the gentlemen thattestified after us in opposition to the bill

(35:58):
in which she made, which hemade remarks about the actions of DPS,
specifically about three falcatype and how hehandled that, and then to hear the
feedback from the representatives as well,gave us validation that what we've been doing

(36:22):
has been right, not stopping,not taking no for an answer, and
again just because somebody with the titlelike district attorney or state trooper basically tells
you it is what it is andyou're just gonna have to go along with

(36:43):
it. No, that's not right. That's why laws are in place,
That's why procedures are in place.And when you don't follow procedures and you
don't hold people accountable, especially whena life was taken, then something's wrong,

(37:04):
and it's okay to speak out againstit. It's fine. In fact,
I would encourage it. Took thewords right out of my mouth encourage.
My experience of it was a totalshock because me and Colton's mom,
what was more, Michelle, Michelle, we were both talking about it together

(37:32):
and I went down not expecting anythingbecause I have never been treated I mean
as a woman, and I've beenhad my own business for twenty five years.
I had learned to be treated witha certain amount of respect in this
community and in our because I didmy job and people respected by talent.

(37:58):
But after dealing with the PS inthe DA's office here, they literally treated
us and my son and Katie's dadlike we were insane, like we were
so ignorant that we couldn't possibly understandthe goings ons of their world. Where

(38:19):
we all have college educations, we'renot stupid. And to go down and
talk to Michelle and they were treatedthe exact same way. She is a
very Whipsmart history teacher. Her husbandworks in machine shops of some sort,
but she had the exact same thing. Her kid was tested blood tested,

(38:42):
John Palmer was blood tested, Katiewas blood tested, but no don't ask
that the criminal be blood tested?And how dare you call off my Geehi
quit being mob mentality, just insultingme at every point to where the last
time I talked to him, hewas screaming at me as I walked out

(39:05):
the door. And I've never lostit. I've never lost it on him.
I just say, we're going toshine a light on this. We're
not stopping. Look at me whenI tell you this will never go away
because he does not know what he'sdealing with. And then to go down
there, and I just teared upbecause these representatives and even the ones against

(39:32):
the bill treated us so respectfully,came out and talked to us over and
over and over and just tell ushow how they understood and that it was
wrong, and that we weren't crazythat this happened, and that we're not
wrong. They are. This countyis wrong, that no one has came

(39:58):
forward that they have, you know, basically circled the wagons and shut us
out, won't answer our freedom ofinformation nothing, just act like we're stupid.
You know, it's really eye openingas someone who has had I have

(40:21):
a business, my husband has abusiness, Palmer has a business, here
to be treated like you're trash andit's just been But when we went to
Austin, it was the first validation. No, y'all are doing what you're
supposed to do. This is whatshould have been done, and it was

(40:46):
like a weight off my shoulders.I already feel like a weight has been
lifted because just to be listened toit was great. And it's crazy to
think that you have to feel validatedbased upon the facts of the case that

(41:07):
a man admittedly drove blind for aquarter mile again thirty eight seconds going between
thirty and thirty five miles per hour, crossed over the roadway and hint two
people, and then fifty minutes laterblew a point zero six it's crazy to

(41:29):
think that this has ended up whereit's at. Take alcohol out of the
equation. The man drove a blindthe man crossed over the road, the
man admitted to driving blind, theman admitted that he shouldn't have been driving.
And honest to god, I donot know what the District Attorney's office

(41:52):
did in that grain jury hearing.Pardon me, I don't know what they
didn't do is astounding to me.The level of incompetency that went on,
I Tarif did such a horrible jobthat day. I mean, I know
that you you and I have talkedtalked about that. You know the fact

(42:15):
that he did not mark the scene. I only took photographs of the truck.
In fact, when I met withfirst District Attorney proved me, first
Assistant disc Attorney Ashmore, I wasgoing over pictures on my phone and he

(42:36):
asked if he could have those picturesbecause DPS did not supply him with pictures
of the scene. I was forwardinghim most pictures. I was texting him
most pictures that Katie's aunt took theday after my sister and I went up
there. She used to be aparalegal and she was like, this looks
too unmarked. It looks like nothinghappened here. There's no craft scene evidence.

(43:00):
There's you know, there's no markers, there's nothing. Nothing happened that
which I would assume that when DPSshows up on scene after an incident,
not an accident, after an incidentlike like this, that there's so job

(43:22):
is to collect evidence. What wasdone when Tariff left again, he didn't
mark where Foster stopped his truck whenhe came to a rolling stock. He
didn't mark where Katie's body was.He didn't mark where my body was.
He didn't mark where our shoes werethat were knocked off of our feet.

(43:45):
U did not talk to any ofthe neighbors that identified Foster. There was
a gentleman that lived across the streetthat told me that he heard um that
he the impact and looked at hiswindow approximately oh well over one hundred feet

(44:07):
away and identified Corey's truck and CoreyFoster getting out and just thought that that
was him slamming his door and hewas getting his dog. He didn't talk
to neighbor that lived all the wayat the end of the road she identified
Foster from hundreds of feet away,identified the truck and Foster. She was

(44:32):
on the scene minutes after it happenedand was there with Katie and I and
never talked to her once she triedto approach him, and at one point
in the video he waved her off. So your sole purpose is to collect

(44:52):
evidence, and you did a verygood job of not doing your job well.
And the woman that state with Kayand Palmer while Katie died and was
trying to help him, she stayedfor an hour and a half offering to
talk to somebody, They've never talkedto her. So when DPS shows up

(45:13):
thirty minutes after the incident, andyou don't talk to anybody about, hey,
what happened from time of impact tome getting here, Never talked to
any of the paramedics or firefighters asto what Corey's condition was right after,

(45:35):
never talked to that neighbor that wason scene again minutes after. Nothing.
That right, there is dereliction ofduty. That is, that is actually
going above and beyond to not doyour job. And I can't put it
any more plain than that negligence.One And by ten thirty, my granddaughter

(46:02):
Bella had already found out on Instagramtheir mom was dead. We didn't know
it till what twelve thirty won butyou know, so it had already went
out on our Grayson County scanner andthe place, so everything that was scanned
that you know, they had ascanner was all in an So he knew,

(46:24):
I mean, he knew it wasa fatality. He knew it was.
He was in ICU. So itwas even if it hadn't been a
fatality, exactly, it shouldn't lookSorry, no, you're fine, like
even if Katie hadn't died, thereshould have been more steps taken of that

(46:46):
scene. So what what angers meis two three falcont he knew the severity
of what happened. Okay, arrivingon scene and a medical evac helicopter has
beat you to the scene from SouthSherman, Okay has beat you to the

(47:08):
scene. They've already landed. Okay. So I remember when I was laying
next to Katie and the empts andfirefighters were trying to best take care of
her, which from what my recollectionwas, they seemed to do a great

(47:34):
job. They were very methodical,didn't get rattled. I remember, I
want to say, within the firstminute or two, believe I heard somebody
stating that they need to get ahelicopter. So there was never a discussion
about you know, what are wegonna do? She okay immediately from what

(47:55):
I recall that that was discussed veryquickly after they arrived on scene. By
the time they got on scene,she her eyes were fixed and she had
short labored breathing about every ten tofifteen seconds. Okay. By the time

(48:20):
Tariff got there, the helicopter hadalready landed. I was already in an
ambulance. Came was on a gurneybeing tended to. And I'm not sure
why they were waiting to get herto the ambulance. They were doing their
job. But as a DPS officer, as a state trooper, if you

(48:46):
show up to a scene and ahelicopter has landed to transport somebody to the
number one trauma center in the region, I'd say that serious. I say,
you know that there's something very seriousand life threatening going on. Back
and I believe it was twenty seventeenor eighteen, and I've posted this on

(49:07):
our page. Alcat made a statementto the Herald Democrat regarding an accident with
two young men. One was sentthe ambulance I believe to Wilson Jones or
TMC, one of the local hospitals, and another one of the men was

(49:28):
put into a care flight. AndI'm paraphrasing this, but he stated,
you know it's serious and life threateningif somebody is transported in a helicopter.
He said this back in twenty seventeen. It's in print. He was quoted
as saying that. So, goingback to that day, when he talks

(49:50):
to one of his supervisors and statesthat kind of made it sound like,
and I'm paraphrasing again, she justkind of whacked her head. That is
insulting to me. That is veryinsulting. And I believe the whole time
he minimized this, he downplayed everything. And well, the statistics show that

(50:16):
twenty percent of people lived through ametavad, only twenty percent. So when
I saw Katie, I was runningto get to her. All I could
think of was twenty percent. Andthere were so many ambulances and fireman there's

(50:38):
probably I think fifteen or so thatI thought all four of them had been
a hint because the kids always goand I usually go too, but the
kids always go, especially in themornings, you know, or something.
So I saw John Palmer sitting,I saw him in the ambulance. I
didn't know if he was alive ordead, but I saw Katie and they

(51:00):
were. They pulled up to gurneyand started. I tried to get to
her, and somebody finally came outand kind of held on to me and
told me I couldn't go to her, and I kept I just kept asking.
Then where it was Bell and Brandon? Were were the kids? And
then they told me, there wasn'tso it was just right up there.

(51:22):
So I started running down here totheir house to find them. But there
were so many people there and everything. But what gets me is everybody was
very serious and focused except Corey anddrink Alcateye. So from that moment to

(51:51):
this, this is what we havedealt with this county. All we want
is justice. That's that's all thatwe've asked for. That's it. So
I make no apologies for anything atall, and we're not going to stop.
And what about transparency? Why not? We submitted I submitted fifteen,

(52:17):
well sixteen now, I said anotherfreedom of information request m last week to
Bread said, that's sixteen Freedom ofInformation Act requests. We've got back one
hundred and fifteen pages of reasons whythey're not going to willfully give us all

(52:39):
the information that they've either gathered orcollected. Why not? And it's it's
been a year, but I rememberdays or a week after I talked to
Tarif on the phone. I askedhim about a blood test. He said

(53:04):
he didn't get one, but heblew a point zero six he said that.
And I'm paraphrasing, I'm not directquoting if we got a point zero
six. But look, that's that'sfine because Um, if we had got
a blood test, it would havebeen a lot lower. And that's that's
what you would have had had tohave dealt So by the time we tested,

(53:25):
he might have been down to apoint zero three or point zero two.
Now to me, well, again, I'm not a lawyer, Um
neither. I've not had dealings withthe criminal justice system ever, unless it

(53:46):
was like not wearing a seatbelt backin Dallas, back in like oh two
or three. Um, but Iremember thanking him going out, Okay,
thank you, because that's that's growingup. You know. I was always

(54:07):
told to respect police, and Istill do to this day. Um.
They have a very important job.If I ever had an issue at my
house, I'm going to call nineone M support the police, back back
the police, and I trust thepolice. And Tarif Um was not trustworthy.

(54:34):
He told me something that I believehe knew was not correct in telling
me that it's better that we gotthe PDT at point zero six. That's
going to be in my report nowthat that can't be talked about. Um,
pardon me. Um. The assistantdisc attorney decided that we could not

(54:58):
bring that up the because it wasa PBT and not a blood test.
Now knowing what I know, hada blood test been administered, then um,
you go to a toxicologist and theythey could give you approximately within certain
parameters about where he was at.All we want is justice. You know

(55:20):
again, I've I've said that,and I feel like a broken record.
And that's all we want is justice. That's all that we've ever wanted.
Um, we're not going on awitch hunt. We want justice for King.
That's that's all we want. Andwe don't understand why, it's why
it's so hard to get justice.I mean that that that sounds that sounds

(55:49):
even ridiculous saying that given the circumstancesthat we've all been through over the past
year. It's absurd. But um, we've got just we've we've we've got
some bad actors and that's when we'regoing going against and and it and it
shouldn't be like it. It shouldn'tbe where the victims. It feels.

(56:15):
I even hate saying that because Idon't want I don't want to go against
I want to work with. ButAustin gave us validation and I think that's
one thing. You know, wethink we're very confident in what we're doing,

(56:36):
and we know what what we're doingis is right. But to see
those those people, um in thosepeople being legislators, pery legislators and uh,
you know, even those that opposedHouse Bill five fifty eight, which
I hope passes and makes it ontothe House House floor. I hope it

(56:57):
passes committee. Um to have thosepeople look at this here testimony and making
a point to tell us that whathappened that day was wrong. It wasn't
a misstep, it was misconduct.And it was eleven eleven thirty at nine

(57:23):
and three or four of them cameout and talked to us for another thirty
or forty five minutes. I wasblown away. I couldn't believe it,
specifically about what occurred in Grayson County. Yeah, and we discussed not only
what happened that day, but whathasn't happened since. So I believe the

(57:45):
right people are gonna start looking Ihope so. And I'm I'm I'm fine
with that. I mean, I'mI'm one hundred percent. You know what,
And if they had told us that, we would have had to waited
thirteen more hours. UM. Itwas all worth it to try and get

(58:07):
justice for Katie So and I knowthat our our purpose UM in Austin was
supporting high school fight, which Ibelieve is very important. I don't find
UM anything wrong with getting blood froma motorist that hits a pedestrian and causes

(58:32):
serious injury or death. I don't, And that's what everybody. That's what
everybody says. You know, Ithink it doesn't make any sense. No,
he gets driven home by DPS,assured he's not a problem. You're

(58:53):
all right, Hey, go aheadand tell tell your momb that everything's gonna
be okay. I get driven toto the ICU UM, not knowing where
my wife was going. I wasfinally told that she was going to go
to Plano. And my wife leftthat golf course and she left this world

(59:20):
before she got on that helicopter.UM. And then she only makes it
back here in a box. Wewe haven't been able to grieve. We
were UM, you know, respectfulof everybody else. Due to COVID,
did not want to have a UM. You know, both Small Memorial wanted

(59:44):
to have one UM to where youknow, anybody who wanted to show up
could and her remains are. We'restill on my nightstand. And it shouldn't
be like this. We we shouldn'thave to fight the same institutions that are

(01:00:09):
supposed to be working with us,not for us, with us. UM,
it's this has been a night nightmare. I mean it's it's It was
one horrible incident that has contributed tothe next one, contributed to the next

(01:00:31):
one, contributed to the next one. And again, we did not want
to be put in this spot.I would have been just happy living my
perfect life the way it was withmy wife and my kids and never having
to go through this. We didnot seek this out, um, but

(01:00:53):
this is something that was forced forcedupon us, and I believed we're acting
like anybody else would if their lovedone was killed and no justice was rendered
at all. Thank you all somuch for listening, and thank you to

(01:01:20):
John and Ronda for being so openabout the most difficult and painful experience of
their lives. I know this ishard to listen to, but imagine being
John Palmer or Ronda Nail or Katie'schildren and knowing that the person responsible for
taking Katie's life is still walking aroundliving his life doing as he pleases,

(01:01:43):
no regret, not a care inthe world, and with that you might
be able to experience just a fractionof what this family is going through.
In my episode notes, I havelinked several sources, including the body camp
footage as well as all of thesesocial media accounts that are in support of
Katie. Please follow them and helpthis family get justice for Katie Palmer.

(01:02:07):
And also please join me next weekfor an even more eye opening episode about
the investigation into the crash that claimedthe life of Katie Palmer and blow the
lid off why this case was mishandledfrom the very first minute. Until next
time, Stay safe, friends,

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