Deputy District Attorney Lisa Green calls to the witness stand Eddie L. Harper Sr., Earnestine Harper’s son.

He lives in Winterhaven Florida. He is married. He has been married for 31 years. He has two children, 29 and 26. He has been a minister for 32 years. He is a minister at the South View Church of Christ.

Linda Piggee is the oldest, Robert Harper, him, Elain Byrd and then Joanie Harper.

He was born in Dallas Texas. His older siblings were also born in Texas. Robert is 52, Linda is 54, he is 50 and Elain is 48.

He lived in Dallas for a year or two before moving to Oklahoma City. They lived there for three years with her mothers’ parents, his grandparents. They had a close relationship. Her mother was responsible for them. Their father did not raise them. Their sister Elain was born in Oklahoma City. Earnestine became ill. Elain went to live with her aunt Helen in California and she raised Elain.

He was 4, 5, and 6 in Oklahoma City. He moved to Tulare, California. “She wanted to do better...a lot of it had to do with living closer to Helen where Elain was,”

“Do you have fond memories of your mother”

“She was very special, I don’t recall having a babysitter watching us, she was very contientious about out upbringing,”

We lived with her sister Helen. “It made it very safe for her to work,” They moved in with aunt Helen and while their mother was working, Helen took care of them.

Earnestine worked in domestic work, taking care of homes and children and got a job in Kern Medical as a lab tech.

They moved from Tulare to Bakersfield. They moved on Third street at a one-bedroom apartment down from 901 address. “We knew from my mother her attitude that we wouldn’t be there very long and we weren’t,”

“She was concerned not just that we had enough but that we would have advantages that other children would have...cub scouts.”

“Sports was very important to her because she looked to that as an avenue of keeping us out of trouble.”

Earnestine and Linda slept together on the sofa bed and the boys slept in the back bedroom. They were living there when Joanie was born.

They did not have a lot of extras. “You would probably say we were poor...I remember being on welfare, I remember going with my mother to get food, the comodity food, that was somewhat of an activity for us...but no we did not have very much.”

“My mother was a very special, whatever she did she was going to put 100 percent into it and she was going to be the best she could be. She was probably the best lab tech.” “When there were patients that were difficult... they would always call ‘Stein” “Patients who would have their blood drawn would request her because it would  be painless.”

She retired on disability when he was a freshman or sophmore. “At one point we all did (take care of Joanie)” While Joanie was in kindergarten or first grade he would get Joanie dressed and braid her hair and he would have to come home and make sure she got home safely. “We had a very special relationship.”

“She believed in the Lord, that was her, that was her life, Christ was her all, there were times when she would pray for hours on hours and I would wonder what could she be prayer for and she would tell us that I am praying for you all I am praying for my children that you would grow up healthy...but that most of all we would be as faithful to the lord as she was...I don’t know if she knew then that both of her sons, we would become ministers.”

His brothers Robert is a minister and Linda lives in Oklahoma.

“She took us to church, she would never send us, she was always concerned about us, not just out upbringing in the church but wanting us to continue once we had graduated from high school...My mother believed that whatever happened if you just believe and trust in the Lord everything will work out fine.”

They moved to 527 T Street to a house. She purchased that house for $19,000. “That was a long time ago. That was special. The gentleman who sold her the house was not supposed to sell her the house and as a result he was fired.”

Green said it was a primarily white neighborhood.

This realtor eventually went to Los Angeles and became a multi-millionaire.

On one side was a Japanese couple, she was extremely nice, she would at time bake cookies. A tree fell on their home and the man next door helped to get the tree off the house.

They took as many palmegranites from the couple next door. Another couple let the children come and play with their dog. A Mexican-American family came in. When he was preaching in Oildale. “I have very good memories of living at that residence.”

Eddie Harper said he was in Elementary School, at McKinley and Emerson then Bakersfield High School.

Linda went away to Southwestern Christian College in Texas.

Robert and he and Joanie went there as well.

Earnestine Harper had her high school diploma.

“She wanted us to have that Christian foundation and from the earliest of age she would take us to that school and tell us that was where we were going.”

“We were happy about it, we couldn’t wait to get there.”

How was Joanie Harper able to go. She had a scholarship and a grant. “She was an outstanding Basketball player.”

His first job was in Lafayette Louisiana.