UNION, Mo. – The family of a Franklin County woman killed in Mexico walked out of a courtroom Tuesday heartbroken.
Tamra Turpin's story took twists and turns from near Cancun all the way to Union, Missouri. Her mother said after the death of her daughter, a trial in Mexico and a wrongful death lawsuit she is exhausted, both physically and emotionally. But she finally has some sense of closure.
Evalena Duncan and her family don't like visiting downtown Union, Missouri. It's not the long drive to get there, or even the town itself. It's the business they face inside the Franklin County Judicial Center and the memories it stirs up.
“When I walk in, I don't know what I’m here to face,” said Duncan while sitting on a bench outside the building. “I think of (Tamra) when I get up in the morning. She's the first thing. I think of her right off hand.”
Turpin was killed last year in Mexico while on vacation with her then-boyfriend, John Loveless. Loveless was tried for the crime and found not guilty by a Mexican court.
Afterward, Duncan filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Loveless. That's what keeps bringing her from her home in Grand Prairie, Texas, back to Union and the judicial center.
“It's just tiring, you know? It's... what choice do you have?" she said. "It's the last thing we can do for Tamra.”
The lawsuit was settled Tuesday. Duncan was awarded $300,000. She called it a small comfort for a family still hurting from its loss.
“It's good that it's over, but it's not over as far as Tamra being gone,” she said.
Duncan said her family will carry Turpin’s memory with them as they head back home, hoping Tuesday will be their last visit to downtown Union.
“It’s still just hard to believe she’s gone,” said Duncan.
John Loveless was not in court Tuesday and His attorney chose not to comment on the case.
