BOISE, Idaho — Jazzmin Kernodle, the older sister of Xana Kernodle, was the first of her family to stand at the podium during Bryan Kohberger's sentencing hearing on Wednesday.
"I am strong. I am brave. I am a fighter, just like Xana," she said.
Though older than Xana, Jazzmin talks about her sister as a role model, someone she looked up to. She reflects on her late sister, expressing her previous hopes of having her there at her future wedding as her maid of honor. Xana's story doesn't end with her death, her sister says.
Jazzmin goes on to say, "It lives through the love she gave, the people she touched, and the legacy that her family will protect."
Following Jazzmin was Jeff Kernodle, Xana's father.
Jeff started his impact statement with a story about his trip up to Idaho for the sentencing hearing. On his flight to Boise, he recalls hearing a little girl on the plane call out for their dad. In hallucination and half-asleep, he wakes up, hearing Xana call out to him.
"I heard Xana calling out for me like she did, you know, back when she was little," he recounted.
He goes on to discuss the night the murders took place, saying that he was near Moscow at the time.
Jeff remembers talking with Xana earlier that night when Xana said she wasn't feeling well. He had planned to come to their house on King Road to take care of her, but Xana declined.
"I regret not going, but the reason that I didn't is because Xana said 'don't be drinking and driving," Jeff said, choking up. "I really wish I had drunk and drove."
Next up was Kim Kernodle, Xana's aunt.
She opened her statement with a comment about how evil and hate can destroy families and that she's trying to look at the positives in an otherwise dark situation.
Despite what many other families said about Kohberger, Kim had different thoughts on the defendant.
She looked towards Kohberger across the courtroom and, in a shocking turn of events, forgave him.
"I have forgiven you, and any time you want to talk and tell me what happened, get my number. I'm here, no judgment... I'll be the one that will listen to you," she said.
After Kim, Xana's uncle, Stratton Kernodle, spoke out.
Stratton used his time at the podium to discuss another direction of this tragedy; the loss of the family of Bryan Kohberger. "His parents, his siblings, his friends, his universe, he has contaminated, tainted their family name."
Randy Davis, step-father of Xana Kernodle, started his statement by directing his attention towards the courtroom, deliberately looking away from Kohberger.
"I was working in North Dakota and came home, and Jazzy and Xana had taken our son, Elijah, and put him in a dress," Randy said.
The crowd breaks into a bit of laughter at the sweet anecdote, but the mood quickly shifts as Randy addresses Kohberger directly.
"You, man, I don't know what my limits are here, but I'm really struggling, dude," he said towards Kohberger. "I want to just be out in the woods with you just so I can teach you about loss and pain."
Randy finishes his statement, walking away from the podium, telling him to "go to hell."
The last Kernodle family member to speak was Xana's biological mother, Cara Northington.
She starts by saying her daugther "had a light so bright, it will live on forever in our hearts."
She presents her impact statement with an emphasis on religion, saying her daughter brought her to Jesus Christ and, through this tragedy, will bring many more to him.
"Jesus has allowed me to forgive you for murdering my daughter, without you even being sorry... or asking for this," she said.
The family of Ethan Chapin, Xana's boyfriend, was not present at the hearing and did not give victim impact statements.
