Man gets plea deal in wife's murder but kids still missing
His name is Erin Justice, a man who pled guilty to murder but there's still no justice for the family of Alicia Fox.
She's dead and her children are still missing.
Many of Fox's family members were livid when they found out about the plea deal. The Wayne County Prosecutor's Office says the investigation into the whereabouts of the missing children remains open and active.
But the one shot they had to get to the bottom of it is gone.
"The first time I met Mr. Justice I really liked him, I really liked him," said Michael Fields.
It's impossible for him to feel that way now, but he's keeping hatred at bay.
Justice, 29, was convicted of killing his wife and Fields' niece Alicia Fox. He'll spend at least 47 years in prison but her family however does not have closure.
Fox's two children Kaylah Hunter and Kristian Justice, are still missing.
There seems to be no reason known why the prosecutor's office did not use the plea deal as leverage to find out what happened to the children.
FOX 2 asked the prosecutor's office but has not yet received an answer.
"Hating him is not going to bring Alicia back," Fields said. "Hating him is not going to allow him to talk to us about those children."
Alicia Fox's relatives were shocked to learn prosecutors offered Justice a plea deal even though he never told them Kaylah and Kristian's whereabouts or what happened to them.
They can only hope he will come clean.
"I really think in time he's going to tell us where those children are," Fields said. "I really do and I think they're okay."
FOX 2: "You believe they're still alive?"
"I believe that Kristian is still alive and I believe that there is a strong possibility that Kayla is not," Fields said. "Because she could talk, she could tell what was going on."
Justice's co-defendant testified the children were still alive when Justice killed Alicia Fox. More than a year later the children are still missing.
"Alicia gave Erin a beautiful son," said Travae Fox, Alicia's mother. "And connected him with a beautiful family unit. In return he stole life."
Justice never looked at his mother in law as she gave a tearful victim impact statement. He sat stone faced and was silent during his sentencing.
All the while people who once considered him family wonder why he tried to destroy it.
"I ask myself that and I ask God that all the time and the answer is the same answer the day I found her over there on Penrod," Fields said. "And I still don't have an answer."
The prosecutor said if Justice is still alive when he's up for parole, the office will make sure he is not released.
There seems to be no reason known why the prosecutor's office did not use the plea deal as leverage to find out what happened to the children.
FOX 2 asked the prosecutor's office but has not yet received an answer.