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Us up saying we don't have any food in the house, can you come and bring us food, there's a problem. >> reporter: and so when dawn and ben went to court to fight for custody of alyssa, cindy had to tell the truth. >> i told the judge that dawn wasn't taking care of her kids anymore. they weren't a priority. they weren't a prior or the. they weren't even number five. >> reporter: when ben won custody of alyssa and more than $200 a month in child support, dawn was devastated. this is her mother sherry rosten a retired deputy sheriff. >> she would sit in the garage and just bawl about not -- abou...

>> sorry. >> in exchange for his guilty plea, the d.a. agreed to recommend that james could be eligible for parole after serving 24 years. final decision up to the judge. defense attorney stover made the argument. and then melissa took the stand. >> emotionally the damage you have caused me is almost unbearable. for alyssa, you crumbled her foundation and everything she knew to be right and true. and as hard as this is to do or believe, i also want you to know that i have found it in my heart to forgive you. >> then james got his sentence. >> the murder charge, you're sentence today life in pr...

Prescription drugs. >> was she employing you in that business? >> i was driving, yes. >> dawn was released from prison in march of 2014. but not to be the mother of alyses a. the judge terminated her parental rights. both alyssa and brandy went to live with melissa who offered them a kind of family life that they didn't know with their biological mom. >> it was a family. that's what i need. >> one more thing to do. in 2011, after pleading guilty to murder. >> is there redemption for a person like you? >> i don't know. >> i don't expect anybody that i hurt to forgive me for what i've done. >> y...