Kriti Mehrotra
Both HBO’s ‘The Yogurt Shop Murders’ and CBS’ ’48 Hours: The Yogurt Shop Murders’ explore the December 6, 1991, case of an unsolved quadruple homicide in the heart of Austin, Texas. The truth is that even though more than 3 decades have passed since this harrowing incident took over the community by storm, there are still more questions than answers at every step of the way. Unfortunately, this means families of the four teenage girls who lost their lives are also still waiting for some sense of closure, amongst whom is the mother of two, Barbara Ayres-Wilson.
Barbara Ayres-Wilson Still Remembers the Last Time She Saw Her Daughters
It was at 5:30 pm on December 6, 1991, when Barbara Ayres-Wilson returned to the home she shared with her beau, Frank Suraci, and her 2 daughters from a previous union after work. She had admittedly had a very long day, but she got a smile on her face as soon as she walked through the front door because her youngest, 15-year-old Sarah Harbison, was sitting on the couch radiating happiness. She told her mother that while her sister, 17-year-old Jennifer, was at her job at the local I Can’t Believe It’s Yogurt! store, she had plans to go to a nearby mall with 13-year-old Amy Ayers. Barbara told Sarah that while she liked the idea, she was too tired to drive the duo.
Therefore, Jennifer took them and also picked them up a few hours later since it was two blocks away from her workplace. However, instead of driving the young teens straight home, she took them to the yogurt store so they could all hang out and help her and 17-year-old Eliza Thomas close up at 11 pm. This was no big deal, considering it was a Friday night and they were all a tight-knit group of friends thanks to Future Farmers of America (FFA), yet things changed shortly before midnight. Not only did the shop go up in flames, but it also came to light that the fire was essentially started to cover up the murder of the four girls.
According to police reports, the four girls were all found nude, with gunshot wounds to the back of their heads. Barbara, who had fallen asleep on top of the covers while watching television, awoke to police officers at her doorstep in the middle of the night and immediately knew something was off. However, it wasn’t until she had called one of her sisters over that they broke the news to her, shattering her world into pieces as her entire life had admittedly revolved around her two daughters. She then had to relive that moment several times as she was left to contact her ex-husband/the girls’ father, James Harbison, as well as other family members to let them know what had happened.
Barbara Ayres-Wilson Prefers to Lead a Relatively Quiet Life Today
In the immediate aftermath of this entire ordeal, Barbara felt as if the best thing to do would be to keep the case in the limelight since it could produce leads and bring matters to a swift close. Therefore, she, alongside her husband Frank and many other parents, agreed to countless media interviews, held marches, and even made banners/mugs/pins, etc., to ensure public visibility. Little did they know their efforts would sadly lead nowhere because while thousands of tips did pour in, many of them were baseless, while others could not be backed by any sort of evidence due to the fire.
Barbara did feel a sense of relief in the early 2000s when two individuals were convicted on four counts of capital murder in connection with this case, but it was truly short-lived. She was glad justice had been served, yet she didn’t like that one of them had been sentenced to death because she felt as if blood was now on her hands, too. However, things changed in 2009 as the verdict against both of them was overturned pending retrial, only for the charges to be then dismissed based on new DNA evidence. “These young men have been implicated, and they have confessed,” she said after they were released on parole. “…They can withdraw it, but the truth is, they actually were there, and they actually did the murders.”
Nevertheless, the truth is that Jennifer, Sarah, Eliza, and Amy’s case unfortunately remains unsolved to this day – officials have not been able to find a match to the DNA evidence recovered. It’s also imperative to note that Barbara has since conceded she would do things a lot differently if she could do it all over again, starting with not putting herself or the case into the public eye. Instead, she conceded in the show that she would let investigators go through their procedure and deal with her grief, loss, and pain in private because she had neglected doing so for years. Therefore, today, in her 70s, Barbara is a retired professional at LegalShield, who prefers to lead a private life in Kyle, Texas, all the while keeping her late daughters alive in her heart.
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