Welcome back. It's time for a case brief, keeping you in the loop with the cases you care about most, just more briefly. If you want the full coverage, it's linked in the description below. But for now, let's get into it.

Sir, is there anything you wish to say at this time before cynicism posed?

Yes. Okay. Oh. Today is the culmination of the Commonwealth of Virginia versus Brendan Banfield. It's Friday. It's

June 5th. We are going to be watching his sentencing together in front of Judge Ascarade.

The order today is going to be impact statements, attorney arguments, Brendan's elocution,

if he chooses to make a statement, and then the court's sentence.

I want to hear what Judge A. has to say.

Again, my name is Danielle Hawker, and Christine Banfield is my younger sister.

Oh, ma'am, I'm sorry.

My family has publicly stayed silent since my sister's murder, except for a brief statement

after the trial concluded.

We chose to protect Christine and Valerie to prevent the media from contorting our words

or create fodder for keyboard warriors. We were, however, not spared the media's attention.

Who goes after victim families? The hours following Christine's

murder, I received a call from a reporter masked in sympathy asking for a statement and pictures of

Christine. Since then, my husband and I have received countless calls and emails. They pale in

comparison to the overwhelming volume my parents have endured.

Christine does, however, deserve to be talked about by those that loved her.

Grief is not something that is done on display or shared, except those closest to you,

and even then it is more often hides behind closed doors in quiet moments.

Internally, I feel like a different person, like my identity has shifted in an unimaginable way.

Part of who I was, who I still am, is a big sister, and in what seemed like seconds, it was taken from me, taken from us. While justice was

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