TULSA -- The family of a woman whose confessed crimes have captured the nation's attention is breaking their silence.
Taheerah Ahmad's family has been watching the unthinkable unfold with the rest of us.
"Because I saw when she was smiling how the smile went. It wasn't really a smile, it was a message," said her aunt Barbara Alsharif.
They're the only ones with some insight behind the smile.
"My little niece came running up the driveway, barefoot in hysterics saying 'auntie, auntie mommy killed Sadiya.'"
On Monday, Barbara planned to go to her niece Taheerah's home when her great-niece appeared.
"Nobody moved. Everybody was shocked."
They took her back home to find a nightmare.
"Seeing that girl lay there like she had just been through a war-torn country was not something that we see at home."
A family friend, Terrell, saw Sadiya first.
"I came running in there and I looked at her and I shouted out her name. I told her, 'Don't worry we're going to get you out of here.'"
Barbara tried putting out a fire in the kitchen and called the police.
"She loved her kids. She went to work every day for her kids. Everything she did was for her kids," said another one of Taheerah's aunt's, Debrecka Fields.
They were confused, why did this happen?
Then they remembered when things started to change.
"She was normal Friday, Saturday she snapped, Sunday she was evil."
They said she had recently lost her job and shot her dog and chickens. Then, her mother who cares for her two boys kept her from seeing one of them graduate on Saturday.
That was the tipping point before Mother's Day killed her spirit on Sunday.
"She thought herself into a nervous breakdown," said Fields.
It was a long time coming.
They said she had a rough upbringing of reported abuse, then it happened to her girls.
"She instructed them to tell me how the Daddy stabbed her."
They thought she was handling everything well until it was too late.
"It was an underflow of water that came up through a well."
They're now left with the pain of how quickly life can change, heartbroken at the sight of video 2 Works for You shot last year of Sadiya seemingly happy beside her mother only a year ago.
Ahmad is still in the Tulsa County Jail, and her daughter is still in critical condition in the hospital.
Her family said they believe she should be punished, but hope she gets a fair trial.
They said once they finally get to speak with her, they just want to know if she's OK.
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