Jackie Reid, Principal at Sharpe Elementary School where Teresa Cope, the mother of Preston Cope works as a teacher and Tracy Tubbs, aunt of Bailey Holt, spoke on behalf of both families today at the Marshall County Board of Education.
Reid on behalf of the Cope family read this statement:
“On behalf of the Cope family, we want to thank everyone who has taken the time to send kind words, thoughts and love to our family. Our tight-knit community has come together and we have felt each and every prayer. To hear how much Preston was loved has been such a blessing. He was caring, compassionate, had a gentle spirit and the biggest heart. Our faith is getting us through and God has given us the strength right now and will continue to in the days ahead. As we take today and tomorrow to honor and remember Preston, we know that he is in a better place and we will see him again.”
Tracy Tubbs, speaking on behalf of the Holt family read this statement:
“We would first like to extend our condolences to Brien, Teresa and Maddox Cope for your loss. We will continue to pray for your family. On Jan. 23 at 8:10 a.m. when the shots began, Bailey made a call to her mom Secret. Of course they assume that she intended to tell her mother of the catastrophic events unfolding. Unfortunately it was too late, for she was taken from this earth. By the time her mother answered the phone, Bailey was gone.
We have since been informed that Bailey did not suffer. She was surrounded by staff working relentlessly on her to try and save her, but to no avail. This has become a point of comfort for her parents as they believe it was Jesus calling Bailey home and he wanted her parents to know she is safe with Him. How great our Lord and Savior is. He chose us to have this beautiful creature in our lives for 15 short but magnificent years. Our anger is evident, our grief is gut-wrenching, but hear our voices today that this act of violence that was intended to inflict incredible pain has done quite the opposite, only reinforcing our family and friends and community to simply say, “not today Satan, you’ve picked the wrong community and definitely the wrong family.” Our faith in our community has been restored and our faith in our Savior re-ignited.
We will get through this and we will be more like Bailey, going forward. We will hug tighter, we will love harder, and we will be more present with our families. We give glory to God knowing our sweet angel is running down the streets of gold wearing her black converse shoes and her Louisville Cardinals sweatshirt. She was simple. She was easy to love and she was the salt of the earth. We want to thank all of you here today, for giving us a platform to give voice for Bailey and Preston.
We would also like to extend our deepest gratitude to the first responders, Principal Greer, Superintendent Trent Lovett, local and national officials – Governor Bevin and First Lady Glenna Bevin, Lt. Governor Jenean Hampton, Resource Officer Ray Chumbler, Asst. County Attorney Jason Darnall, Kentucky State Police, the FBI, the ATF, everyone at the hospital and lastly the teachers and staff who worked tirelessly trying to save our girl.
The separation is merely temporary and Bailey, your light will continue to shine as long as we have a voice.”
Entertaining question from the media, Tubbs said Bailey’s whole family on her father’s side are die-hard Louisville Cardinal fans and Bailey will be buried in a Louisville sweatshirt because she was that kind of girl. The University of Louisville sent her two jerseys of her favorite players.
“Bailey was an old soul”, Tubbs said, “She loved rock ‘n roll music like ACDC, Van Halen and everything that I would not like. So anytime we were in the car together, she would change my station to Hair Nation just to agitate me.”
“She was easy to love, she was perfect”, Tubbs added. “She was 15 and I have two smaller children, a boy seven and a girl 10, and she and my son were very close and instead of a normal night out with a 15-year-old to movies, anytime we were in town she would spend that time with her cousins. Not because she was told she had to but because she wanted to.”
Reid responded to a question about the things Preston enjoyed in life.
“Preston enjoyed the outdoors, and when Brien and Teresa speak about him, mention his love of baseball”, Reid said. “He was a member of the Marshall County baseball team and loved the St. Louis Cardinals. His dad speaks about one of the greatest opportunities that Preston had was to be able to play at Busch Stadium whenever the high school team got to play there last year. He said that’s a memory that they are going to hang on to forever. He also loved history. In the past year they took a trip and Preston got to choose where they went. Different places like Gettysburg and places like that. But most of all he loved his family very much.”
Tubbs and Reid said the outreach and gifts from all over have been overwhelming. Tubbs showed a drawing from an anonymous artist, who drew a picture of Bailey that they will treasure forever.
Bailey and Preston have attended school together since kindergarten at Sharpe Elementary School
The #belikeBailey has become a phrase the family and community have embraced which Tubbs says, “means just be kind, love your family more, hug tighter, put down your cell phone at dinner and have real conversations and be friends with everyone.”
