Mother of slain 11-year-old daughter testifies in Joseph Zieler’s trial

A gut-wrenching day in court for the mother of a young murder victim on Tuesday. Joseph Zieler’s trial is happening 33 years after 11-year-old Robin Cornell and her babysitter, Lisa Story, was brutally slain.

Emotions run rampant simply watching Cornell’s mother, Jan Cornell, on the stand. It’s tough to imagine how difficult Tuesday was for Jan.

Jan couldn’t help the tears from falling while on the stand, remembering her daughter’s precious life and brutal death. Jan was left to almost mechanically wipe one tear away after another and another for three hours.

Robin, at the joy-filled age of 11, had bright blue eyes and blonde hair, was already over five feet tall, and had a smile so playful and full of glee.

“She liked to jump. She liked to climb trees, swim,” Jan said.

Story, at 32 years old, had piercing green eyes and reddish brown hair.

“She didn’t go out without a fight,” Todd Everly, the lead detective, said.

Jan, a prisoner of her own memories, can’t forget finding the bodies inside her home in 1990.

“I screamed her name and ran over to her. Her body was cold,” Jan said.

During the first day of testimony in Zieler’s trial, Jan testified about the awful night. It wasn’t long before the tears began streaming down Jan’s face.

Picture after picture passed across the screen, Jan told jurors what happened.

“I started giving her CPR… What did you notice? She have a lot of congestion, like she had really been crying congestion from where her nose, but then when I gave her breath, I could hear her lungs aspirate. And I knew she was dead,” Jan said.

Jan testified someone had ransacked the house. Robin was left lying on the floor, and Lisa was in Jan’s bed. Both were beaten and sexually assaulted.

“Her hands were up like this. Like she was just laying on her stomach,” Jan said.

During Jan’s three hours of testifying, her eyes were on her friends and family, looking for their support.

Zieler, on the other hand, looked at the walls, the ceiling, just about anywhere but found it impossible to look at Jan.

The trial’s expected to last two weeks or maybe longer. If the jury convicts Zieler, the panel must decide whether to recommend life or death.

And Florida’s new law will apply, which means that only eight of the 12 jurors are needed to agree on death for the judge to consider it. Gone is the requirement the jury must be unanimous in their decision.