Like other 20-month-olds, Jesse Walters enjoys SpongeBob SquarePants, has begun exploring how to walk and easily identifies his mother, father and sister in photographs.
"He's been calling 'Mom' and 'Dad' for a long time," said Jesse's grandmother, Judi Walters. "I have three big pictures hanging on my wall, one of each of them, and smaller (photos) around.
"He'll focus on the pictures. It's almost like he knows."
But Jesse will never know his mother, father and sister.
David, Rhonda and 19-month-old Destini Walters were killed in January in their Parks home. It is believed that Jesse also would have been murdered had the killer, Donald Barnhart, known that the then-9-month-old child existed.
Barnhart, 31, shot and killed himself during a short police chase days later, and Jesse's aunt, Heather Goedicke -- Rhonda's sister -- was arrested because police believed Goedicke allegedly helped plan the murders. She is awaiting trial.
It's been a turbulent 2004 for the Walters family. But it appears as though the year's end will provide some closure.
Judi Walters, David's mother, recently completed a six-month probation period during which Jesse lived with her in her Washington Township home in order to adopt her grandson. Now she awaits a court date to make the adoption official.
"The lady who's handling all of it through Children and Youth Services said it's hard to tell how long it will take," Judi said. "She said it could be a month or several months."
The Walters are hopeful that the process will be finished by Christmas.
Every day during the past 11 months has presented another hurdle for Judi and her family. The Armstrong County Children and Youth Services assumed custody of Jesse immediately after he was discovered under his crib in a back room of his family's Ash Road home.
He was placed in a foster home in the Shelocta area, while Judi and her daughter and son-in-law, Erin and Dana Maxwell, fulfilled five weeks of parenting classes with Children and Youth Services.
Shortly after finishing classes, Judi welcomed Jesse into her home.
The Maxwells were prepared to adopt Jesse if Judi could not, and Judi's husband, Burrell Township resident Carl Walters, her sisters and other family members have pitched in to help with the transition.
"Really, it hasn't been as difficult as I thought it would be, mainly because the baby was such a big part of our life before this happened," said the 52-year-old Judi, a certified nursing assistant at West Haven Nursing Home. "(Jesse and Destini) spent a lot of time with me. On the other hand, that's different than having complete authority.
"I still get a little bit apprehensive in decision making," she said. "I ask myself, 'What would David or Rhonda do?' Pretty much, I take it a day at a time."
Judi's sister, Carol Crytzer, said that it has been no small task for Judi to overhaul her life.
"To start over with an infant and work full time, it's tough at times," Crytzer said. "The biggest adjustment is coping with the emotions of what happened with the others being gone.
"And the physical activity of having a little one around, plus going through the steps she's had to go through to adopt -- it's very hard for Judi."
Judi said life as she knew it changed Jan. 13, when her husband found David, Rhonda and Destini slain after he went to check on them because David had failed to call his mother that day.
"There are some days where it doesn't seem like it happened," Judi said. "It's hard to believe that it happened. But you have to face reality. I think there are going to be some difficult days ahead with the holidays.
"Through all this, Jesse has been our salvation. He's what's gotten us through."
Added Crytzer: "We call him our little miracle, just from what he's come from and that he survived that ordeal. It's difficult not having Jesse's parents and his sister. Knowing we could have lost him in the same way, we look at him -- you can't stop thinking about that when you look at him -- we thank God we have him."
