Photo: Courtesy Ashton Matheny
At 16 months old,Haisley Jo Mathenyis still too little to know who Santa Claus is, but like children everywhere, she loves getting gifts.
For Matheny, these sweet moments with Haisley Jo are especially precious because the young father and daughter have survived a nightmare.
On August 19, 2017, Matheny’s longtime girlfriend,Savanna LaFontaine-Greywind, 22, was 8 months pregnant with Haisley Jo when she was lured to an upstairs apartment in the Fargo building where she lived with her parents and younger brother.
Haisley Jo Matheny.Courtesy Ashton Matheny
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In February, Crews was sentenced tolife in prison without the possibility of parolefor conspiring to commit murder.
In October, Crews’ now ex-boyfriend, William Hoehn, 33, wassentenced to life in prison with the possibility of paroleafter hepleaded guilty to kidnappingand providing false information to authorities.
After enduring such a stressful and painful time, Matheny says he is relieved that life for him and his daughter is much calmer now.
“Life is steady,” he says. “Things could always get better. But I’m content.”
These days,Mathenyis studying business administration at a local community college. Haisley Jo is enrolled in a local Head Start program, where she enjoys playing with other children.
Cass County Sheriff’s Office/AP
She’s walking — and has started to talk.
“She says ‘Daddy andMommy,’” he says. “She just learned to say puppy.”
She called their new cat ‘Puppy’ until just recently, he says. “Yesterday she learned to say Kitty. She says, ‘Kit!'”
Money is tight for the young single dad. “I’m looking for a job for the weekends but can’t find anything right now. There aren’t many jobs around here. At least jobs that pay well.”
That’s why he says he is so grateful for the outpouring of support he received from a GoFundMe account that was set up last December to help him and Haisley Jo that raised more than $22,000.
He used the money to buy a vehicle and to renovate his modest home for him and his daughter. “I renovated it and it looks brand new inside and out,” he says.
People still reach out to him on the site to wish him and Haisley Jo well, he says.
As he and Haisley Jo celebrate Christmas with his family, Savanna is never far from his mind. “I think about her every day,” he says. “That will never change.”
Courtesy Ashton Matheny
He wishes Savanna were there with him to see all the new things his “love bug” is doing these days.
Haisley Jo is certainly loved, he says. “She is a happy little girl.”
source: people.com
