It's taken 13 years for a Houston woman to find the strength to return to Bryan-College Station.
Her nine-year-old daughter, Kandy Kirtland, was murdered in Bryan in May of 1987.

For two weeks in May 1987, Kandy Kirtland's mother waited for her to call and say she was okay.
Instead, Jan Brown got a phone call from the FBI.

"I hung up the phone and I remember getting off the couch and walking down the hallway toward my bedroom and just screaming at the top of my lungs," recalled Brown.

Her nine year-old daughter had been missing after arriving from school at her Bryan home, where she lived with her biological father, step-mother and brother.

Kandy's body was later found in a trash heap near Villa Maria Road.
Her arms were tied behind her back and she had been shot once in the head.

Brown said, "I could either choose anger and hatred, or I could choose love. Where you have one, you cannot have the other. So, I chose love and I chose to just love Kandy."

44 year-old James Earhart was convicted and eventually executed for abducting and murdering Kandy.

"Children in Bryan became more important to their parents than they had been the week before, just because Bryan at that time...was touted as one of the safest cities in America to live," said Brown.

She's been sharing her story as part of a prison ministry for 13 years.

Brown added, "People that hear my story say that it affects them, that it heals them in certain parts of their life."

She's come a long way, from being hospitalized to prevent her from committing suicide, to willingly sharing her and Kandy's story with anyone who will listen.

Brown is speaking along with members from the Texas Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty at Rudder Tower Wednesday, on Texas A&M's campus.

The event is from 12pm - 1:30pm in Room 401.
If you are planning on attending, members of the Multicultural Services Department ask that you RSVP in advance.