Mother of Tucson murder victim speaks out ahead of set execution of man who killed her daughter

TUCSON, Ariz. (KOLD News 13) - The mother of a young Tucson girl who was murdered says their family is ready to see justice with their own eyes.

This comes as the man convicted for the killing awaits execution.

It’s been 37 years since Vicki Lynne Hoskinson was kidnapped from her home in Tucson and murdered. Her loved ones say faith and family have helped them, but they are now preparing for the biggest step to help them move on from the nightmare.

“I don’t think you really ever get closure,” says Vicki Lynne’s mother Debbie Carlson. “And I kind of don’t like that word because she’s never coming back, you know? But yet we will no longer have this cloud hanging over our head wondering...is the Attorney General’s office going to be calling? Did they file another motion...was something granted? Was something denied?”

It was a phone call Carlson had received too many times...being told the execution of her daughter’s killer would be delayed yet again.

Frank Atwood was convicted of killing 8-year-old Vicki Lynne Hoskinson in 1984.

This week, the Arizona Supreme Court signed a death warrant for Atwood, and he is set to be executed next month. It’s a moment Carlson says her family has been anxiously awaiting.

“Because of his poor choice, he’s suffering the consequences, and those consequences is the death penalty, because that’s the sentence he was given.”

She says the stress from the murder has impacted the family’s health and well being. And watching the family grow and experience things without Vicki Lynne is heartbreaking. But they vowed not to give her murderer the power to destroy what they had left. Carlson reflected on who her daughter would have been...

“She was a fierce ball player. Softball player. And she was pretty tall for her age. I could have seen her playing for the U of A. I really could have seen her being an all-around athlete...getting a full ride scholarship and just making some awesome changes in the world.”

Carlson says she Vicki Lynn would have been 46-years-old, and she sees her daughter in some of the kids in the family, from their features to their personalities.

As they prepare for the execution, Carlson says justice being served has been their goal all along, and they feel the time has finally come.

“It’ll just be a beginning of a different chapter. And it will not be with him there. No more. And we’re looking forward to it.”

The family says they plan to be there for Atwood’s execution scheduled for Wednesday, June 8th.

Atwood would be the second inmate killed since the state resumed executions.

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