ad info

 
CNN.comTranscripts
 
Editions | myCNN | Video | Audio | Headline News Brief | Feedback  

 

  Search
 
 

 

TOP STORIES

Bush signs order opening 'faith-based' charity office for business

Rescues continue 4 days after devastating India earthquake

DaimlerChrysler employees join rapidly swelling ranks of laid-off U.S. workers

Disney's GO.com is a goner

(MORE)

MARKETS
4:30pm ET, 4/16
144.70
8257.60
3.71
1394.72
10.90
879.91
 


WORLD

U.S.

POLITICS

LAW

TECHNOLOGY

ENTERTAINMENT

 
TRAVEL

ARTS & STYLE



(MORE HEADLINES)
 
CNN Websites
Networks image


Morning News

Mother of Slain Texas Police Officer Discusses Recapture of Four Prison Escapees, Efforts to Honor Son

Aired January 23, 2001 - 10:49 a.m. ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Authorities still trying to track down two escaped Texas convicts. Patrick Murphy Jr. and Donald Newbury are still at large after yesterday's arrest of four of their fellow fugitives. Police apprehended four of the men near Woodland Park, Colorado. A fifth reportedly shot himself. The men had been on the run for nearly six weeks after escaping from a Texas prison.

The Texas convicts will face murder charges in connection with the shooting death of Texas Police Officer Aubrey Hawkins.

Jayne Hawkins is the officer's mother. And she's joining us now live from Dallas to talk about those arrests.

Ms. Hawkins, thanks for joining us today. First of all, what is your reaction to these men being apprehended?

JAYNE HAWKINS, MOTHER OF SLAIN OFFICER: My first reaction was sadness, believe it or not, because it made the men real. You know, until they were apprehended, they were merely paper photographs to me. And it's very difficult to have a name and a face for the man who hurt my child. Very hard.

KAGAN: And so as not to focus on the wrong people, can you tell us a little bit about your son so we know more about him as a person and the man and the officer that he was?

HAWKINS: Aubrey was a hands-on, wonderful, openly affectionate daddy to Andrew. He was attentive and sweet to me. He was his wife's best friend. He was -- he thought with his heart. He loved his work and approached it with his heart.

KAGAN: As I understand it, your grandson Andrew is 9 years old. That's certainly old enough to understand what's been going on. So hard for an adult to handle, let alone a little boy. Have you talked with him?

HAWKINS: Oh, certainly, yes. I went over to his house on Christmas morning trying to keep things as normal as possible and he kept saying, why don't they give him air, why don't they give my daddy air? And, you know, he doesn't talk much about it to me. Lori (ph), my daughter-in-law, says that he's spoken to her about Aubrey. And he recently spent the night at his dad's house, so I think that was a big step for him. KAGAN: And does he know that these men have been caught?

HAWKINS: That I don't know. I spoke with his mother yesterday and she went on to her other line and said the police were calling her to pick Andrew up from school. And since that time, I have done nothing but interview after interview. I know they didn't want the press to get to Andrew.

KAGAN: Yes, and I can certainly understand that. And I also, as I understand it, you're doing these interviews because you have a platform. You don't -- you want your son's life to count for something.

HAWKINS: That's exactly right.

KAGAN: And there's bigger issues here. There's prison, there's prison safety and security, officers' lives as well.

HAWKINS: That's very well said, very true.

KAGAN: And what are you going to do on that platform to try to bring about changes?

HAWKINS: Well, I'm going to begin to contact the legislature. And I want to speak with Gov. Perry. It's going to take from the top- elected officials to the appointed officials all the way down through the prison system to make the changes that need to be done because they're all responsible for it. So, you know, once they finish pointing fingers to each other, then they can all take accountability and we can begin to work together towards something positive.

KAGAN: If these men are convicted in your son's death, they would face the death penalty in Texas. Is that something you would support?

HAWKINS: I am not -- I don't care what they do with those men. I can't comment on that. The system will take care of that. I'm going to focus on what I can do something about.

KAGAN: And real quickly, I also understand there's a law in Texas that allows victims' families to face people if they're convicted in the crime, of the murder of your son. Would you want to take an opportunity like that to see these men face-to-face?

HAWKINS: Yes, absolutely.

KAGAN: You would. Well, thank you very much Jayne Hawkins. I know this is a difficult time for you. Our condolences on behalf of CNN to you and your family in the loss of your son.

HAWKINS: Thank you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com

 Search   


Back to the top