MANITOWOC (NBC 26) — Family members are reacting to the case and the up-and-down emotions they've felt for eight years, just two days after a jury found Timothy Hauschultz guilty in the death of his 7-year-old great-nephew, Ethan, in Manitowoc.
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The jury found Hauschultz guilty on four of six counts. Ethan was under Hauschultz's guardianship at the time of his death.
Ethan's mother, Andrea Everett, spoke with NBC 26 Lakeshore neighborhood reporter Abbey Hamachek to remember her son.
"Ethan was very gentle, he had a sense of humor, he lit of a room, he deeply cared about everyones feelings, he was genuinely just a funny kid," Everett said.
Throughout the trial, Everett sat next to her friend Roseatta Lucious.
"She'd call me and be like 'Hey they're deliberating. Hey they're doing this. I'm on my way,'" Lucious said.
After hours of testimony, including difficult details about the crime, the jury reached its decision.
"We the jury find Timothy Hauschultz guilty," came the verdict.
When she heard that verdict, Everett described the moment.
"It was overwhelming, I felt like the room was moving and I wasn't. It was hard to process what was actually happening," Everett said.
"My chest felt tight and warm and I immediately looked over at her and I'm like, 'We got him, we did it,'" Lucious said.
Lynette Parslow, who has known Everett for more than 15 years, hosted a prayer chain the night before the verdict.
"I was so relieved by it and I knew it would be a ripple effect," Parslow said.
That ripple effect is Ethan's Law, which was passed in 2021. It strengthened rules designed to keep children in the child welfare system safe from people with certain criminal histories.
"A little too late but I am also really happy that my son can make sure that other children are not put in a situation like he was," Everett said.
When I asked what she hopes happens going forward, Parslow pointed to the justice system.
"I think they should look at all angles of our broken justice system," Parslow said.
"Keep Ethan's name out there because that's her baby. He doesn't just go away with a verdict," Lucious said.
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