Illabelle Wesson was 8 years old when she was killed in Fresno, California, on March 12, 2004. She was one of nine members of the Wesson family found dead in their home; all nine victims had been shot through the eye with a .22 caliber handgun. The killings followed a standoff between Marcus Delon Wesson, the family patriarch, and police over a child custody issue. Marcus Wesson was arrested at the scene and charged with nine counts of first-degree murder and 14 counts of forcible sexual assault.

Investigators and the trial record portray Wesson as exercising cult-like control over his family, including incestuous relationships with daughters and nieces that produced many children, among them Illabelle. The defense at trial argued that Wesson’s 25-year-old daughter Sebhrenah had committed the killings before taking her own life, but the jury convicted Marcus Wesson of all charges and he was sentenced to death on June 27, 2005.

Does anyone have memories of the family or information about how the community responded in the weeks after the killings?