Shane, an ex-convict and a recovering drug addict, had been trying to make a career as a singer in a Christian rock band while providing for Maggie and her children. He said finding steady work that paid a living wage was tremendously difficult, as he was required by law to report his status as a convicted felon.

Maggie had two children, Memphis, age 2, and Kayden, age 4. Maggie had separated from their father several months prior to beginning her relationship with Shane. From the beginning of the relationship, Shane became very involved with the children, asking Kayden to call him "dad."

One month into their courtship, Shane had Maggie's name tattooed on his neck in large black letters.

Maggie would often say that she could sense the competition between Kayden and Shane, and often felt that she was caught between their separate demands for her affection and attention.

Shane had found temporary work in Lancaster, and rather than commute between his job and his home with Maggie in Somerset, the family had stayed with a longtime friend of Shane's in Lancaster. The couple's precarious financial situation combined with the challenge of caring for two small children wore on the couple, and they had begun to fight more frequently. One night, after an early birthday celebration for Memphis at a local fast food restaurant, the two began to argue. Shane said his main source of frustration stemmed from the fact that Maggie paid more attention to the children than she did to him.

After a night out at a local bar in Lancaster, Maggie left after becoming jealous of another woman flirting with Shane. Upon arriving home, Shane flew into a rage, angry that Maggie had "abandoned him" at the bar, and he screamed that Maggie had betrayed him, at one point accusing his friend (not pictured) of trying to pursue her sexually.

As Shane and Maggie continued to fight, Memphis ran into the room and refused to leave Maggie's side. Shane continued to scream in Maggie's face as Memphis wedged herself between them. At some point, the toddler had stopped crying and began trying to soothe her weeping mother.

Shane flung Maggie back into the kitchen when she tried to escape. He told her, at one point, that she could either get beaten up in the kitchen, or come into the basement with him so that they could talk alone. Maggie refused to be alone with him, saying she was fearful of what he might do without witnesses around.

A resident of the house called the police, who arrived and arrested Shane. As he was being led away in handcuffs, Shane pled with Maggie not to let the police take him into custody, crying out, "Please, Maggie, I love you, don't let them take me, tell them I didn't do this!"

Maggie sat in front of her best friend Amy's house and smoked the morning after the assault, while Kayden and Amy's daughter Olivia, three, played in the window. A few days later, she decided to move to Alaska to be closer with her estranged husband and father of her children. Shane pled guilty to a count of domestic battery, and was given a nine month sentence. He was released in August 2013, five months later, on good behavior.

Overwhelmed by frustration at a long flight delay, as well as by the prospect of transporting two small children all the way to Anchorage, Maggie closed her eyes and tried to calm herself down. Her grandfather had been given special permission by the airport to come to the gate with her to help her care for Memphis and Kayden. After a flight delay that lasted several hours, they were told the flight had been cancelled and were sent home. They flew to Anchorage the following day.

Memphis stood in front of an illuminated advertisement at the Port Columbus International Airport, waiting to fly to Alaska with her mother and brother to be with her father. Memphis' father is a soldier who is currently stationed in Anchorage. Maggie decided that trying to reconcile with her estranged husband would be best for her and her children. "I want us to be a family again," Maggie said. "Zane has been so understanding about everything, he wants to take care of us. I'm really lucky."