For the first time, in a hushed courtroom bursting with heart-sick grief, the father of a young daughter and granddaughter gunned down unmercifully in a church parking lot faced the man who moments earlier admitted to their killings.

John B. Mullinix of Jamestown, the Fentress County Executive, emotionally talked about the conflict of faith he struggled with over the past three years, about how his faith had carried him through the worst nightmare a parent can imagine.

And then he said it. "I forgive you."

He returned to his seat and burst into sobs that can only come from the depths of grief and despair.

Across the way Huston Lloyd struggled throughout the 40-minute hearing to maintain his own composure.

It was his turn. Lloyd, 51, the Middle Tennessee man whose unsolicited rage of passion was the catalyst for the killings, faced the family of Kimberly Wyatt and her four-year-old daughter, Sarah.

"I am sorry."

Like a wedding, families from both sides filed into the Putnam County Justice Center and sat on opposite sides. About 50 family members and friends were there to support the extended Mullinix family. For Huston Lloyd, there were his wife, son and daughter and a couple of other family members.

For the first 30 minutes District Attorney Randy York, with Assistant DA Anthony Craighead and several members of his staff at hand, laid out the case against Lloyd.

Defense attorneys Jack Lowery Jr. of Lebanon and James Simmons from the Nashville area flanked their defendant, at times consoling Lloyd as he alternately sobbed and wiped tears from his eyes with a tissue held in hands manacled by state prison guards.

They did not challenge York's presentation of the case against their client. And it appeared the proceedings had run their legal course when York announced to the court that two members of the Mullinix family wanted to speak.

Criminal Court Judge Leon Burns agreed to hear their statements, asking that they be brief and issuing a word of caution to all present.

First to rise was Kimberly Wyatt's brother, Tyler Mullinix. With tears in his eyes and suppressed utterances of grief, Mullinix told Lloyd, "I have been waiting for three years to ... this tragic mistake you made."

Tyler Mullinix continued that he came to realize he had to forgive Lloyd to be able to "get on with my life." He talked about the closeness of a brother and sister and how badly he missed his big sister and his little niece.

At that point Lloyd buried his head in the table in front of him, crying uncontrollably as his attorneys tried to help him regain control of his emotions.

Tyler ended his remarks by stating, "I do not agree with the sentence ..."

His dad then took the podium, thanked the judge for the opportunity to speak and then turned so he could face Lloyd, seated some ten feet away.

"You just devastated our lives," John Mullinix told the defendant. Mullinix talked about the toll that the crime took, not only on the Mullinix family, but on Lloyd's family. "I looked at your daughter in her wheelchair, with tears in her eyes," he said.

"Only through the mercy of God are you being allowed to live," John Mullinix continued. "God has really dealt with me during these days, and He has impressed upon me to share Jesus Christ with you. You need to turn you life over to Him and repent of your sins."

Then Mullinix told Lloyd taking that step of faith would allow him to spend eternity with Kimberly, Sarah, "and my family."

"I forgive you," the dad said, and quickly walked to his seat where sadness and pain boiling inside over the past three years dissolved into audible, uncontrollable sobs.

Then, in somewhat of a surprise move, Lowery announced to the court that Lloyd wanted to make a brief statement of his own.

He faced the family and said, "God is with me and I do trust in Him. I had evil in me that day."

He then said that he never intended to hurt Sarah, repeating it three times. "I am so sorry for that," he said.

Lloyd continued that he had destroyed the Mullinix family, his own family, the community, "my community. I am sorry."

After the hearing a member of the defense team slipped a handwritten note on a plain white spiral notebook page from Lloyd to York and asked that it be given to the family.

Burns, who had other cases on the docket, announced he was taking a brief recess to allow the families to collect themselves and exit the courtroom. The Mullinix family made it to the foyer outside the courtroom where they paused to hug and console each other one more time.

It was as if they didn't want to leave, but the time had come for the healing to begin.