Girl in Trouble

The two share a long embrace, then Rebecca notices the half-inch cut on her daughter's left eyebrow. Aubrey tells her mother she's fine, that the cut came from a mishap with Buddy, a German Shepard she's been assigned to give obedience training in the yard, readying him for a dog shelter. Buddy got too excited and accidentally bit her as they wrestled the previous Monday, Aubrey says, downplaying the wound. She's more concerned about her mother's ankle.

"Good morning, sunshine," Aubrey says. She picks up her baby and swings her in the air, smiling wide. She gives Alexis a dozen kisses, swinging her up again and again, saying a loud, shrill "Hi!"

She hugs Huston, then returns her attention to her little girl. She holds Alexis in her lap, and Alexis, in what has become a habit, tugs at the inmate tag on Aubrey's shirt and then starts chewing on it.

Huston tells Aubrey about how Alexis chewed on a barbecued rib, how she loves to sing during American Idol. Aubrey feeds Alexis a bottle, then yogurt from a spoon, then sings the alphabet to her daughter.

Huston, who has custody of Alexis, says they'll be waiting for Owen when she gets out. He hasn't proposed to her, but their plan, he says, is to marry when Owen is released.

"I understand the mistakes I made," Owen tells the Pitch. "It's nobody's fault but mine." But she says she wants other women caught in similar circumstances to know her story so that they can seek help.

Though they admit they missed obvious signs that their daughter was troubled, her parents remain adamant that she belongs in counseling, not prison. They, too, visit her every Saturday.

For his part, Cornwell calls it one of the strangest cases he's ever defended.

"I have always been troubled and I have never had this answered to my satisfaction, why she didn't tell mom and dad, why she didn't tell her best friend. She's just a lost soul. It's just so goddamned sad."