When teenager Bailey Holt walked into her Kentucky high school on the morning of Tuesday, January 23, she thought it would be like any other school day. But tragically she would never return home.
Bailey was one of two students shot and killed in the mass shooting at Marshall County High School in Benton, Kentucky. Another student Preston Cope, 15, died in the hospital, and 18 other students were injured.
Just days after losing their beloved daughter, Bailey’s parents, Secret and Jasen Holt, have courageously spoken out about the loss of their beloved daughter.
The brave couple said that one of the last things Bailey did was make one final phone call to her mother.
When the Holts first learned that Marshall County High School was under attack, they desperately tried to call their daughter over and over again.
Then finally Secret Holt’s phone rang and it was Bailey. But there was silence on the other end.
“She called me and all I could hear was voices, chaos in the background,” Secret recounted. “She couldn’t say anything and I tried to call her name over and over and over and she never responded.”
Both parents rushed to school frantically trying to find their daughter. Eventually, they were escorted to the fire department, where they were told what had happened to their darling daughter.
Bailey’s heartbroken parents shared what they loved most about their beautiful, amazing daughter. At just 15, Bailey had already decided she wanted to be a labor and delivery nurse, knowing she wanted a career where she’d be serving others.
“She helped others — she was just so kindhearted and the most amazing kid anybody could ever ask for,” Secret said. “Her smile could light up the room.”
Authorities haven’t identified the 15-year-old suspect, who is charged with two counts of murder and 12 counts of first degree assault.
“I don’t know if I can go to court and see him,” Secret said. “I also want to pray for him, too, because I know he’s probably having a hard time too, but he took our baby. He still took my baby from me.”
Secret’s family says Bailey would want them to forgive the shooter.
“She would absolutely tell us all to stop all the fuss, not to be angry, forgive him and pray for his mom,” said Bailey’s aunt, Tracy Tubbs. “She would, in a heartbeat, stand by those words.”
