Karissa Fretwell was the daughter of William and Nyla Fretwell. William was a preacher who passed away just after Karissa turned 14. In the Spring of 2015, when she was 21, she had an affair with a man who was close to her father's age, not knowing that he was married until she became pregnant with his child. When he found out about her pregnancy, he wanted her to terminate it; but she made the choice to continue her pregnancy against his wishes. If we presume that Karissa made the unselfish choice, then we must presume that she believed there is not enough time to terminate a known pregnancy without committing homicide.

She gave birth to Billy on February 18, 2016, naming him after her father. She tried to raise him on her own; but by 2019, she was in need of child support. Billy's father was unhappy with the amount of child support the state was requiring him to pay. So, he devised an evil plan to murder Karissa and Billy, carrying it out on the night of May 13/14, 2019. He did not get away with it, as police were able to follow the trail of evidence, which led to him.

Under the Maternal Rights Act (MRA), Karissa's pregnancy would have been registered with the state as an unwanted pregnancy before the father even found out. The state would have then required the father to choose between the two ways he could take responsibility for causing the unwanted pregnancy. Since her choice would have had no bearing on him and his choice, she never would have been under any danger for choosing to continue her pregnancy with Billy.