Miranda Lambert interview

Tuesday, Ju;y 26, 2022 – 9:30 a.m.

Miranda Lambert is Alyx's biological mother.

Detectives Armstrong and Murphy interviewed her at the Yoknapatawpha County Sheriff's Department.

Participants:

• Detective T. Armstrong
• Detective S. Murphy
• Miranda Lambert

Detective Armstrong: Before we begin, please state your name and address for the record.

Miranda Lambert: My name is Miranda Lambert. Um, I'm living at the Ewing Park Community, just off Jackson Avenue.

Detective Murphy: Isn't that a mobile home park?

Miranda Lambert: Yeah, most folks call it a trailer park which makes me trailer trash.

Detective Murphy: How long have you lived there?

Miranda Lambert: About six months. Before that, I lived in Alabama.

Detective Murphy: We had a hard time finding you, Miranda.

Detective Armstrong: How long have you been using your maiden name?

Miranda Lambert: Since that bum divorced me. He paid for me to change it back. He said he didn't want anyone to know that he was ever married to me.

Detective Murphy: Are you referring to Paul Byrns?

Miranda Lambert: Who else? I hate him. He ruined my life. I wish I had never met him. Never.

Detective Murphy: Nothing good came of your time with Paul Byrns?

Miranda Lambert: Listen, I was working on becoming a registered nurse when I met him. He turned me on to wild, crazy parties. Got me hooked on alcohol. I was shy and not very social when I met him.

Detective Armstrong: Are you saying he corrupted you?

Miranda Lambert: Yes! He was younger than me, but he was a wild one. He made me drive to Hattiesburg every weekend when he was in college.

Detective Murphy: What do you mean by he made you?

Miranda Lambert: He was very controlling. I finally quit my job because he didn't want me working or doing anything without him. He said all I ever needed was him, and he would always take care of me. Ha!

Detective Armstrong: So, what happened?

Miranda Lambert: I got pregnant. That's what happened. He expected me to just stop drinking and smoking and everything. Do you have any idea how hard that is? Impossible, I tell ya.

Detective Armstrong: Many pregnant women do it. Why couldn't you give up drinking and smoking for nine months for your child?

Miranda Lambert: I never wanted a child in the first place. During the pregnancy was when I realized I was an alcoholic. I just could not stop. I tried, though. I really did, but my disease was stronger than my desire to have a healthy child.

Detective Armstrong: When was the last time you saw Alyx?

Miranda Lambert: The day she killed herself. Don't get excited. I would park across the street and watch for her. Try to catch a glimpse. They had no idea who I was. She was such a pretty girl, but I didn't know her.

Detective Murphy: Did you approach her?

Miranda Lambert: Are you kidding? Not after my last meeting with Paul.

Detective Murphy: When was that?

Miranda Lambert: Around Alyx's 12th birthday. I asked if I could meet her

Detective Murphy: And?

Miranda Lambert: And he grabbed me by the arms and shook me, yelling about how I would never, ever get to speak to his daughter. He saw some marks on my arms—

Detective Murphy: Marks?

Miranda Lambert: Yeah, from some blood work I had done earlier that week. He said he would take me straight to the authorities and show them that I was a heroin junkie.

Detective Armstrong: If it was blood work, you would have the proof.

Miranda Lambert: He shoved me, knocked me to the ground, and told me to leave town. He told me to disappear. Said he had ways of making me disappear if I fought him. So I did. I disappeared.

Detective Armstrong: Oh, come on. This all sounds ridiculous. If you wanted to see her, and Paul was lying about the tracks on your arms, why didn't you go to the cops? Maybe we could have helped.

Miranda Lambert: Money talks. I have none.

Detective Armstrong: What time did you see Alyx that day?

Miranda Lambert: It was after lunch. She was talking on her phone. I left when the improved Mrs. Byrns pulled into the driveway. Alyx got up and went in the house, so I left. I have no idea what time it was. I've never been a clock-watcher.

Detective Armstrong: Did you come back and kill your daughter?

Miranda Lambert: No. I did not. I'd been watching her for days, trying to work up the nerve to approach her. I waited too long.

Detective Armstrong: Why did you want to see her?

Miranda Lambert: I didn't really. I wanted to hurt Paul. I didn't care anymore what happened to me. I just wanted him to hurt the way I have all these years because of him. He would've been so ashamed for his precious little girl to meet her real mother.

Detective Armstrong: What better way to hurt him than to kill her, right?

Miranda Lambert: The news said it was suicide. Why are you saying she was killed?

Detective Armstrong: She was killed. You know that.

Miranda Lambert: I know now that you said so. I did not kill Alyx. I'm not that unfeeling. Listen, I've lived a pretty rough life, and I've had my ins and outs with the law, so unless you're going to arrest me, I'm going to get up and walk out of here right now.

Detective Murphy: We aren't going to arrest you, but we may need to speak with you again at a later date.

Miranda Lambert: If you want to talk to me again, I'm requesting that you provide me with an attorney.

Detective Armstrong: Miss Lambert —

Miranda Lambert: I absolutely will not speak with you again without an attorney. I did not kill Alyx, and if Paul is trying to frame me for that, then for once, I will fight back. I refuse to let him control my life any longer. You tell him I said that.

Interview ended – 10:12 a.m.