BRYAN, Texas — Life was never the same for Skyla Smith and her 2-year-old daughter Saylor, when Skyla's husband and Saylor's father died in April 2021.
“It has gotten better over time, but there are still waves and moments of grief that are just really intense,” Smith said.
15ABC spoke to Smith for the first time a year after it happened in 2022. In a somber moment, Smith also introduced her newborn daughter.
As Saylor grows, Skyla still works to keep the memory alive of the father her daughter never met.
“Recently she has started to ask 'Where’s daddy?', and so with every milestone, he is greatly missed," Smith said.
"It becomes more profound that he is never coming home and that she will never actually get to personally know her daddy.”
The shooter accused of killing her husband [Larry Bollin] is getting farther from justice after a judge declared him unfit to stand trial.
“You can’t mental health your way out of accountability," Smith said.
"It almost feels like [Bollin’s] mental health is a priority over the other victims. I know it’s not that, but it feels that way.”
As the days and years continue to pass, closure seems to be out of reach too.
“I know they [the courts] want to make sure we have the best possible outcome to get justice for all of us, but it feels impossible like it’s never going to happen," Smith said.
"We just want to keep moving forward — moving forward is our goal.”
In Smith's spare time, she often gathers with a group of women across the U.S. that have endured the same experience of being a widow with children, and has continued to find peace knowing she isn't alone.