Young Hero Saves Self, Mother

July 21, 2005 -- -- Thirteen-year-old Courtney Sharon doesn't see herself as a hero -- though everyone around her thinks she is for what she did nearly three years ago.

On Aug. 23, 2002, Courtney was at home with her mother, Carolyn Marksberry, and her siblings, 7-year-old Chelbi and 6-year-old Cody in the small town of Warsaw, Ky., when someone came banging on their door.

It was the middle of the night, and Marksberry's new husband, Chuck, was away on business. But the person at the door was Marco Chapman, a family friend, so she let him in.

As soon as Marksberry had her back turned, she says Chapman brought a knife to her throat. Police now believe Chapman had a secret drug habit and had been coming off a two-day crack and cocaine binge.

Marksberry says he took what cash she had in her wallet, and then tied her up, and began stabbing her. "I was terrified, absolutely terrified," Marksberry told "Primetime" co-anchor Cynthia McFadden.

Saving Mom, Losing Siblings

Marksberry began screaming, and her children woke up to investigate. Chapman attacked them too. After he attacked Courtney, she pretended to be dead. When he turned his attention away from her, she decided to run for help.

It was a painful decision to make, since her brother had been critically injured. "I grabbed my brother's hand, and I said, 'I gotta go get help,'" she told McFadden. "He said 'No, don't leave me.' And I said, 'I'll be there in a minute, I'll be back.'"

Courtney fled out the back door and raced through the dark to the house of a neighbor -- who called 911. Chapman heard the door slam, and fled.

Authorities believe that's what allowed Courtney's mother to survive. "She not only saved her life, she saved her mother's as well," said Kentucky State Police detective Todd Harwood. Carolyn was minutes from death when rescuers arrived.

But Chelbi and Cody did not survive. The coroner says they died within minutes of their attacks.

Facing the Killer

But Courtney's work wasn't done. Police needed her help in identifying the attacker. She was able to describe what he was driving and what he was wearing, right down to the lettering on his T-shirt.

"Just a remarkable recall for a little girl of that age," Harwood said. "I've dealt with hundreds of children over the course of my career, Courtney has to fit at the very top."

Chapman was arrested in West Virginia, and Courtney took yet another courageous step: she decided to face him in court.

It would be "her last responsibility on behalf of Cody and Chelbi, to be the older sister and take care of things for them," said prosecutor Linda Tally Smith.

Courtney says she felt better for having gone. "I wanted to get to see him and show him that I'm not afraid of him anymore," she said.

Prosecutors say Courtney's presence had a powerful effect. Even before the trial began, Chapman pleaded guilty and asked for the death penalty -- a turn of events never before seen in Kentucky.

At his hearing, Chapman said: "My life has never really been worth much and it will never be worthy of the children, but I give it freely to them."

Smith said she thinks Chapman demonstrated remorse "simply because of the bravery of Courtney."

On Dec. 14, 2004, Chapman was sentenced to death.

A New Normal

Courtney and Carolyn are now trying to pick up the pieces of their lives. Courtney is helping in that respect too. "She keeps me busy. If it weren't for her, I don't know that I would get up in the morning. She's my hero," Marksberry said.

Courtney says she now thinks of her little brother and sister as her own guardian angels. Her mother is trying to help Courtney adjust too. Courtney's "come a long way," Marksberry said. "She's definitely been a lot bolder and a lot stronger."

Dr. Robin Goodman, who works with the National Child Traumatic Stress Network, says with proper treatment, children who suffer from child traumatic stress can see their actions in a new way and heal.

"You help that child put together all the information that they may have been feeling at that moment to understand that their actions had a reason and in her case they had a good reason."

Marksberry is philosophical about what has happened: "Once something like this happens to your family in any shape or form, you can't forget it," she said. "But neither can you change things. So what was normal before, you just have to find a new normal."

For more information on child trauma and treatments is available on their Web site at www.NCTSN.org