'A Little of Both': Mother of Father's Other Child Reads Her Text on Marriage | Pt 29

Added: 2026-05-14

[00:00:00]Okay, bring the jury in.

[00:00:23]All right, everybody may be seated. Um ladies and gentlemen, as you heard that the state has concluded their case, they they have rested at this point that the defense will uh uh is going to be calling a witness. I'm going to try to get one more witness in before we end today.

[00:00:43]Going to go ahead and call your next witness. Your first witness, I should say.

[00:00:46]>> Thank you, your honor. We'll call Mr. Craig.

[00:00:54]Please raise your right hand. Do you swear the testimony given this matter shall be the truth, the whole truth?

[00:01:14]Procedure, honor.

[00:01:16]Go ahead. Okay. Um, afternoon, ma'am.

[00:01:20]Um, could you please um state your name and spell your last name for the record?

[00:01:24]>> Misty Craig. C R A I G.

[00:01:26]>> I'm going to start by asking you um are you here because I've served you a subpoena requiring you to appear?

[00:01:32]>> Yes.

[00:01:34]>> Do you know Derek Pedran?

[00:01:35]>> I do.

[00:01:36]>> How do you know Derek Pedran?

[00:01:37]>> He is the father of my child.

[00:01:39]>> Okay. Were you one time in a relationship with him?

[00:01:42]>> Yes.

[00:01:43]>> Are you currently in a romantic relationship with Mr. Pedran?

[00:01:46]>> No.

[00:01:47]So, um, I want to talk to you just a little bit about some of what we heard earlier. Um, you know Laura Lee Reigns?

[00:01:56]>> I do.

[00:01:57]>> And, uh, is Ms. Reigns active in co-parenting your son with Mr. Pedran?

[00:02:02]>> Absolutely not.

[00:02:05]>> So, I want to talk to you about your relationship. How long approximately did you date Derek for?

[00:02:11]>> We were together for a year before I left. Um, and then we were probably apart for maybe a little over a month. I found out I was pregnant and we tried to make it work and then for a whole probably another year.

[00:02:31]>> Okay. Now, at some point uh um did you and Derek talk about getting married?

[00:02:37]>> Yes.

[00:02:38]>> Did Derek propose to you?

[00:02:39]>> Yes.

[00:02:40]>> Did he give you an engagement ring?

[00:02:42]>> Yes. And just so we're clear, you understand the difference between an engagement ring and a promise ring?

[00:02:47]>> I Yes, I do.

[00:02:48]>> Um, was this a promise ring in your estimation?

[00:02:51]>> No.

[00:02:53]>> All right. Um, at some point, um, did you become aware that Derek was getting married to Laura Lee Reigns?

[00:02:59]>> Yes, I did.

[00:03:00]>> And, uh, how did you feel about that when that happened?

[00:03:04]>> Um, it broke my heart.

[00:03:06]>> Were you upset with him?

[00:03:07]>> Yes. Did you talk to Derek at all about why he was marrying Laura Lee Reigns?

[00:03:12]>> Um, I asked a couple times.

[00:03:16]>> And did Derek reference at any point the need to marry her in order to protect himself in the course of this trial?

[00:03:23]>> I didn't hear that come out of his mouth directly. No.

[00:03:25]>> Did you ask Derek about uh um why he was marrying Lori Lee?

[00:03:34]>> I've I've asked him a couple times.

[00:03:35]Yeah. And uh you recall Derek saying something to the effect that uh he needed to uh protect himself in this case.

[00:03:46]>> Again, not directly to me. Did he ever say that? I always got told it was um because I left him and he was there. Now, do you recall uh um saying that Derek or do you recall Derek telling you that he [ __ ] up by telling you that he was getting married to Laura Lee for the purposes of the trial?

[00:04:08]>> Um I remember him that one time he did just say that there he said too much just because of the trial coming.

[00:04:17]>> And do you recall Derek telling you that he needed to marry Laura Lee so that the two of them couldn't testify against one another?

[00:04:24]>> I do not recall that.

[00:04:26]Um, did you have a discussion with Derek's stepmother at all after um after he married Laura Lee about why why the the two of you got married or why why the two of them got married?

[00:04:37]>> Yes, I do know that. We used to communicate.

[00:04:39]>> Okay. And did you tell Derrick's stepmother that Dererick admitted to uh marrying Laura Lee for that purpose for the trial stuff with Alex?

[00:04:48]>> I don't recall that text message help your memory if I show you that.

[00:04:52]Okay.

[00:05:21]This is 271.

[00:05:23]>> Okay.

[00:05:24]>> Yeah. Just so you know, there was one that we used 271 for I think. So, we're re we're re reusing that number for a different exhibit.

[00:05:35]71. Why don't you give that?

[00:05:47]>> Yeah, I do remember that.

[00:05:50]>> You remember uh stepmother said about marrying Laurely >> where he said that he admitted it was a little of both. A little bit of both.

[00:06:03]Meaning part of uh part of this was uh for the trial with Alex and part of this was for um because he loved her.

[00:06:12]>> Yes. And when I did question him about that, he said because Laura Lee has been in Alex's life since day one, she knows all about it. She's still a part of the his other kids' life.

[00:06:24]>> Okay.

[00:06:26]Do you recall uh telling Derrick's stepmother that uh he blew up at you and said that he [ __ ] up by telling you that he was marrying Laura Lee in part because of the trial.

[00:06:37]>> I don't recall her say or me saying that directly to her.

[00:06:48]I do recall uh telling you that uh um the two of you would be together in the uh in the long run.

[00:06:56]>> Yes.

[00:06:57]>> Um and he said this to you as he was marrying Laura Lee. Is that correct?

[00:07:03]Um, there was a time, a good chunk of time from when I left, I found out that he was with Lor Lee to when he got married that we weren't really speaking.

[00:07:16]Um, but shortly after he got married.

[00:07:18]Yes.

[00:07:25]>> I'm going to sample an exhibit here.

[00:07:27]Have it.

[00:07:33]Have a copy.

[00:07:58]You baker. Why don't you give that a read?

[00:08:16]>> Okay. Oh, you >> Yes.

[00:08:26]And it looks like you're talking about a couple of different things.

[00:08:30]>> Yeah.

[00:08:32]>> So, you're asked by the baker at the beginning um whether or not uh um whether or not he told you that he was marrying um it says juror jer. I assume that means her.

[00:08:46]>> I Yeah, I'm guessing.

[00:08:48]>> Um because of the court stuff with Alex um you respond initially um talking about to have a civil discussion about uh um dividing property. Is that correct?

[00:08:59]>> Yes.

[00:09:00]>> Um but after that um you there's a separate paragraph and you say yeah and then then said he [ __ ] up um by telling you that.

[00:09:11]>> Yeah.

[00:09:11]>> Not what it says.

[00:09:12]>> He [ __ ] go by telling me that.

[00:09:15]>> My bad. Yeah.

[00:09:16]>> Is is go supposed to be up?

[00:09:18]>> Yes, sir.

[00:09:23]>> Thank you.

[00:09:29]272 receipt.

[00:09:42]>> Miss Craig, at some point did Derek learned that you had received a subpoena from my office?

[00:09:48]>> Yes.

[00:09:49]>> Um, and did Derek tell you that our subpoena was not valid? Um, he said that he didn't think that mine was going to be used.

[00:10:00]>> Okay.

[00:10:02]Um, has Derek ever threatened you with harm if you talked about Alex?

[00:10:09]>> Yes, sir.

[00:10:11]>> And what did Derek say?

[00:10:14]that if I talked about Alex or the trial that he would cut my head off and send it to my mom in a box.

[00:10:23]>> Has law enforcement ever interviewed you as a victim um as a result of that?

[00:10:28]>> No.

[00:10:30]>> And I know just for the record, it's you've got a co-parent with Derek. I appreciate that you're you don't want to be here and I've compelled you to be here. Is Derek present in the courtroom right now?

[00:10:39]>> Yes.

[00:10:40]>> That's all the questions I have.

[00:10:43]Uh, crass.

[00:10:47]>> Good afternoon, Miss Craig.

[00:10:48]>> Afternoon.

[00:10:50]>> Miss Craig, you ended off by saying that you did not want to be here. Is that fair?

[00:10:54]>> Correct.

[00:10:55]>> All right. Tough situation that you're in right now. Is that also fair to you?

[00:10:58]>> Correct.

[00:11:00]>> I want to go through the timeline that the defense kind of sped through really fast regarding your relationship with Derek. Okay. And the child. Can we start there?

[00:11:09]>> Okay. How long were you seeing Derek from the beginning before you knew you were pregnant?

[00:11:14]>> Um, a year.

[00:11:17]>> About a year.

[00:11:18]>> And then you broke up with Derek. Is that correct?

[00:11:20]>> Yes, sir.

[00:11:21]>> Okay. Um, tell me about the observations you made of Derek's relationship with Laura Lee Reigns during that one year that you were seeing Derek.

[00:11:29]>> I met Laura Lee one time. Um, Derek could just tell that her and I didn't get along. So, as far as I was being told, there wasn't really any communication between the two of them.

[00:11:41]Um, I she might have taken the kids once. I can't I can't quite remember. Um, but she was never around for birthday parties or anything like that. I didn't know there was any communication.

[00:11:55]>> At some point, you describe you met with an investigator with the district attorney's office. Is that correct?

[00:12:00]>> Yes, sir.

[00:12:01]>> And you described Derek having a very strong connection with Laura Lee. Is that fair?

[00:12:05]Um, yeah, because they share, they know, um, she knows Alex. She's been there with the family. I wasn't in the state when any of this happened. I never got to meet Alex.

[00:12:17]>> And to your knowledge and what you shared with the investigators is that Derrick has come to rely on Laurially a great deal when it comes to Alex. Is that correct?

[00:12:26]>> When it comes to Alex?

[00:12:27]>> Yes.

[00:12:27]>> What What do you mean by that?

[00:12:30]the trauma associated with this case and the loss of Alex. That's something he talks to Laura Lee a lot about >> that I I don't know.

[00:12:39]>> You don't know.

[00:12:44]You were asked by the investigators when you met with them about what marital privilege was. Is that correct?

[00:12:49]>> Correct.

[00:12:50]>> And you didn't know what marital privilege was at the time you met with the investigators. Is that fair?

[00:12:54]>> Correct.

[00:12:55]>> The investigators actually had to actually explain to you what marital privilege was. Yes.

[00:12:59]>> And after the investigators explained to you what marital privilege was, you told the investigators that you never heard Derek say that he was going to assert marital privilege. Is that correct?

[00:13:08]>> Correct.

[00:13:08]>> And you also told the investigators that you never heard anything about Laura Lee asserting marital privilege. Is that correct?

[00:13:14]>> Correct.

[00:13:17]>> You actually brought up a conversation that was overheard by other people talking about marital privilege and their marriage um as the source of that discussion. Do you recall that?

[00:13:29]>> Did it?

[00:13:31]>> I do not recall.

[00:13:33]>> Okay. Um Dererick's in the room right now. We've all talked about that. Um I'm going to talk to you about something else you said to the investigators.

[00:13:41]Okay.

[00:13:42]>> Um when the investigators brought up marital privilege to you and whether or not Derek could assert marital privilege, you told the investigators you didn't think he was smart enough to even know what that was. Isn't that right?

[00:13:53]>> I'm Yes. as in I didn't think like that went through his head for the reason of getting married.

[00:14:04]>> And the time when Derek got married, you and Derek were not together when he got married to Laura Lee. Correct.

[00:14:13]>> We were not in a relationship. Correct.

[00:14:15]>> You were not in a relationship. And you had not been in a relationship for about a month. Isn't that correct?

[00:14:22]>> Correct.

[00:14:22]>> You were pregnant at that time. You just didn't know that you were pregnant at the time. Is that fair?

[00:14:26]>> Yeah. By the time I found out I was already three months pregnant.

[00:14:37]>> Derek's made threats to you regarding Alexavier. You just told us that.

[00:14:41]Correct.

[00:14:42]>> Correct.

[00:14:42]>> Threats that are violent.

[00:14:44]>> Correct.

[00:14:45]>> They weren't associated with you testifying in this case, though, were they?

[00:14:48]>> No.

[00:14:48]>> They were associated with you talking about Alexavior. Isn't that fair?

[00:14:52]>> Correct.

[00:14:52]>> Okay. They had nothing to do with this case or this trial.

[00:14:56]>> He just didn't want me to bring up anything about Alex or the case.

[00:15:00]>> He just didn't want you to talk about it.

[00:15:01]>> Correct.

[00:15:02]>> And even talking about it was something that made Derek very angry.

[00:15:06]>> Yes.

[00:15:07]>> Okay. And he said things that no human being should say to you. Isn't that right?

[00:15:12]>> Correct.

[00:15:12]>> Okay. But it had nothing to do with this trial or you coming and testifying in this trial. Isn't that right?

[00:15:17]>> Correct.

[00:15:20]Defense Council asked you a question about the subpoena you received and he made it sound like Derek told you you don't have to comply with that subpoena.

[00:15:27]Isn't that right?

[00:15:28]>> Yes.

[00:15:29]>> The reality is D. What Derek said to you is he didn't think you had anything to talk about with regards to this case.

[00:15:34]Isn't that right?

[00:15:35]>> Correct. Because a different incident wasn't >> Were you living in the state at the time that Alex died?

[00:15:42]>> No, I was not. Were >> you involved with Derek Pedran at the time that Alexander died?

[00:15:45]>> No, I was not. Did you even know who Derek Pedran was at the time that Alexavier Pedron died?

[00:15:49]>> No, I did not.

[00:15:50]>> Okay. Outside of your child that you have with Derek and the relationship that you had with him at some point, do you have anything relevant to offer with regards to the actual death of Al Alexander Pedran?

[00:16:00]>> No, I do not.

[00:16:10]>> There was a time when you were seeing Mr. Pedran and he was involved with both of you and Laura Lee. Is that correct?

[00:16:18]>> Correct.

[00:16:18]>> You caught him messaging Laura Lee >> for a period of almost a year and a half. Yes.

[00:16:25]>> Okay. So, he was involved with you and he was involved with Laura Lee at the exact same time. Correct.

[00:16:30]>> Yes.

[00:16:30]>> And he's trying to give you reasons why he's involved with you, which is he loves you, right? And he wants to be with you and he has a future with you.

[00:16:37]>> Yes.

[00:16:38]>> And he's also trying to justify to you why he's involved with Laura Lee. Isn't that right?

[00:16:43]>> Yes. And he's telling you a lot of things, isn't he?

[00:16:46]>> Yes.

[00:16:46]>> About why. He's giving you many, many different excuses why he's trying to stay with Laurel Lee. Isn't that right?

[00:16:53]>> Well, usually when he would get caught, he'd give me reasons as to why he still talks to her, but they're not together.

[00:17:01]>> But he would give you many reasons.

[00:17:03]Fair.

[00:17:06]>> None of the reasons that he ever gave you directly was this case.

[00:17:09]>> Correct. None of the reasons that he ever gave you was trying to keep Laura Lee from taking the stand and testifying. Isn't that right?

[00:17:16]>> Correct. That's right.

[00:17:23]>> You had some of your own um reasons. You thought he may be seeing Laura Lee, isn't that right? After you and he broke up.

[00:17:31]>> Yes.

[00:17:32]>> Um he didn't have a place to stay, did he?

[00:17:34]>> No. And you thought he maybe was moving in with Laura Lee and starting a relationship with Lauri, so he had a place to stay.

[00:17:40]>> Yes.

[00:17:41]>> He didn't have a car or a ride to work or a way to get around, did he?

[00:17:46]>> Um, he wasn't able to drive. No.

[00:17:48]>> Okay. And so you believe that he was also staying with Lauri for a car or transportation or a way to get around.

[00:17:54]Isn't that correct?

[00:17:56]>> Yes.

[00:18:02]>> All right, Miss Craig. I just want to make sure I understand everything that you've told us today. Um, Derek Pedran has not once threatened you to not come into this court and testify. Correct?

[00:18:12]>> Correct.

[00:18:17]>> He has never once told you that he married Laura Lee to keep her from taking the stand. As >> if you're going to repeat all the questions it said, I'm going to sustain these asked and answered. Anything new?

[00:18:36]That's all I have. Thank you very much.

[00:18:37]Mr. Craig, >> redirect.

[00:18:45]>> Were Were you upset when Derek told you that he was marrying um Laura Lee in part because of the Alex trial stuff?

[00:18:52]>> He didn't tell me that he was marrying her for the trial.

[00:18:56]>> Is Is that what you said in your text message to Miss Baker? I said that he said it was a little of both as into she's been there with him with Alex since he was born.

[00:19:09]>> But you recall the the first part of that text message referencing uh or asking you if you got married because of the trial stuff with Alex?

[00:19:17]>> Yes.

[00:19:18]>> And your response saying that it was a little bit of both.

[00:19:20]>> Yes. But that wasn't him saying that he got married to her for that.

[00:19:26]>> No. Um, and you recall your testimony that Derek said that he [ __ ] up by telling you that he was marrying Laura Lee in part because of the trial stuff.

[00:19:37]>> He didn't tell me that he was marrying her because of the trial stuff. He just said that they had had a bond because of the Alec stuff and the trial.

[00:19:48]>> Is Is that the text message that you sent to Miss Baker that you said that Derek said he [ __ ] up by telling you that?

[00:19:54]>> Yes.

[00:19:56]Nothing further.

[00:20:00]>> Anything further?

[00:20:01]>> Nothing on that.

[00:20:03]>> Thank you. I think I handed you.

[00:20:05]>> No. Thank you.

[00:20:11]>> We actually have a witness that might be five minutes or less if you want to go.

[00:20:15]>> If it's five minutes or >> I don't know that any witness in this case has ever been five minutes.

[00:20:19]>> I know. I know. That's when I'm a little hesitant.

[00:20:20]>> Judge, I would ask.

[00:20:21]>> It'll be a very brief.

[00:20:23]>> Okay.

[00:20:24]>> I don't know who it is. is I don't have any information. So I don't know if that's true.