Denise Prater was at her’s and her husband’s second home in New Orleans in the early morning hours of September 4, 2019, when she learned from a news app on her phone that a couple and three of their four children had been murdered in their home in the little town of Elkmont.

Prater is the mother of Mary Sisk, who was found murdered, along with her husband, John Sisk, and their children, 6-year-old Grayson, 4-year-old Aurora, and 6-month-old Colson, as they lay sleeping in their beds the night of September 2.

Wednesday was the second day of testimony in the capital murder trial of 17-year-old Mason Sisk in the killings of his entire family.

“When I read that on my news app, I prayed, oh, Sweet Jesus, don’t let it be them,” said Prater.

Her husband and another adult daughter had already left for work that morning and her adult son was asleep on the sofa. The news app hadn’t mentioned the names of the victims, so Prater switched on CNN, and found more news of the murders.

“They still didn’t mention any names, but what else was I to think? By chance, they’re talking about Elkmont that has like about 50 people, and there are four kids, one of which lives in the basement?”

Denise said she called the Limestone County Sheriff’s office and Coroner Mike West.

“Mike West called back and said they were all dead.”

Denise said there was no forewarnings that this kind of tragedy was in their future.

Mason Sisk was Mary’s stepson, his birth mother having died when Mason was 6. She said John Sisk and Mason’s birth mother were no longer together and John had moved on to marry Mary Prater.

“He was such a cute kid,” said Prater. “And he knew Mary loved him.”

Prater said she knew of no discord in the marriage or family. Testimony Tuesday said John talked in an insulting, abusive way to Mary, but Prater said, “He never did it in front of me.”

She said she took her son-in-law to task several years ago because he would walk around the house wearing a holstered gun.

“I didn’t think he should be walking around with a gun in front of little kids,” she said. “He said he would do it because he could, and he wasn’t breaking the law.

“And it wasn’t against the law, but look what happened. All those guns in the house.”

This story has been updated to reflect the correct date of the deaths of the Sisk family.