Nashville’s Innocence

It was tagged as being, when Nashville lost its innocence. It was a scary time in Nashville Tn.and it took place 50 yrs ago. I was fifteen, and anytime the tv was on we were herring about it, step by step. 

A young girl goes missing while selling Girl Scout cookies and her body was not found for a month.

Her mother, the woman that went through hell not only for the month she was missing, but for yrs to come. This was 1975, and it was not until a lot later before the killer was found, 2008 to be exact. When the report hit the news we watched it at work. Course, working for law enforcement, usually makes you pay more attention to reports like that. Maybe she can finally rest in peace and be with her daughter now. 

You can read all about it here   

IT WAS WHEN NASHVILLE SUDDENLY LOST ITS INNOCENCE.

   That was fifty years ago.

   Before then parents might let their kids play outside without a thought.

  No more.

  Those of you who have lived here for years know the story.

   So many others new to the Nashville area need to know it.

  Nine-year-old Marcia Trimble was delivering Girl Scout cookies in her Green Hills neighborhood when she went missing on Feb. 25, 1975. 

   Her body was found a month later not far from her family home.   

     She had been sexually assaulted.

     It was not until 2008 that DNA led authorities to arrest Jerome Sydney Barrett. 

   He was charged with first-degree murder.

   At an emotional trial I covered, he was convicted. 

   I’ll never forget Marcia’s mother Virginia Trimble — so strong and dignified — there in the courtroom facing her daughter’s killer.

   I came to know Virginia well over the years.

   A wonderful woman devastated by the loss of her daughter … who never outwardly showed anger or bitterness.

  Just heartbreak and pure grace.

  VIRGINIA PASSED AWAY EARLY THIS MORNING.

   Back in 2000, Virginia shared, "Every day she's in my heart and in my mind."

  Eight years later she sat in the courtroom as the jury found Barrett guilty of killing Marcia.

   He was sentenced to 44 years in prison.

   After he was convicted, Virginia said that she had forgiven him.

   In a statement tonight on Virginia’s death her family shared:

  “Virginia was a radiant light in our lives, illuminating the world with her kindness and compassion, and her absence makes it feel a little dimmer."

They also told NewsChannel 5 that she could not wait to see her daughter again.

   She will be buried at Mt. Olivet cemetery in Nashville, right next to Marcia.

  MAY SHE REST IN 

She would be 59 now. A child should never have to endure what Marcia did and no mother should ever have to lose a child that way.