Chapter 10 - TYLER'S STORY
Tyler stopped acting tough after charges became real.
Assault on a child.
Harassment.
Possible evidence-related conspiracy theories around video.
His lawyer rejected the word conspiracy.
Fair.
Tyler admitted the shove.
“I barely touched her.”
The video contradicted “barely.”
Then:
“I didn’t think she’d fall like that.”
She was one.
A small push is large to a toddler.
Tyler said his mother wanted content showing Franklin unsafe.
He thought provoking Rachel would make a better clip.
“Did she tell you to touch Emma?”
“No.”
“Did your uncle?”
“No.”
“Then why?”
Tyler looked down.
“Rachel pissed me off.”
There.
Personal cruelty.
Not corporate command.
Then:
“And I thought if she freaked out, my mom would use it.”
That was enough motive.
Tyler did not become mastermind.
He was reckless, arrogant, eager to impress adults whose approval he wanted.
Then Rachel attended a restorative-preparation meeting but chose not to meet him directly.
The facilitator asked:
“What would you want him to understand?”
Rachel answered:
“That Emma wasn’t a prop.”
Then:
May you like
“And neither was I.”
That became the sentence she repeated later.
