THOMASVILLE, Ga. — Ashley Sheffield sometimes misses her mother so terribly she finds it difficult to function.

Early on a Sunday morning in May 2014, Sheffield received a call from someone saying mother, Sharlene Steadman, had been attacked and was en route to the Archbold Memorial Hospital emergency room.

“A doctor and nurse came in and told me she did not make it,” Sheffield told the gathering Tuesday at the community’s annual Crime Victims’ Rights Week event.

Sheffield wept after hearing her mother was dead. Suddenly a sense of peace enveloped her. She imagined her mother saying, ” ‘ It’s OK. Ashley, it’s OK.’ “

Wade Jackson was charged with the homicide. Prosecutors warned Steadman’s family members the case “could go either way” if it went to trial and to be prepared for a not guilty verdict.

Family members became exasperated when the trial was postponed several times. Sheffield, describing how her children miss their grandmother, said she felt there was a reason for the delays.

“I forgave him immediately. … I forgave him the day I found out he took my mother’s life,” Sheffield said.

The trial was rescheduled for January 2018. Several days before the trial was to begin, Jackson entered a guilty plea. Sheffield and other family members saw Jackson in the courtroom. They told him they had been praying for him and his family.

Said Sheffield, “You can’t hold onto something that will make you bitter for the rest of your life.”

Senior reporter Patti Dozier can be reached at (229) 226-2400, ext. 1820