In a letter to the court ahead of Nichols’ sentencing, Nichols’ grandmother wrote, “Sherrod (Nichols) would make sure that I took my medicine on time, make sure that I ate something, and although he had to attend school, he would sometimes stay up sometimes to 2 and 3 A.M. to make sure that I was all right.” Burnette’s mother prioritized the relationship, taking her son, as a baby to the county jail, to visit Nichols and later to the state prisons, where Nichols has been incarcerated ever since. When Nichols was set to be transported from the county jail to the state prison in Morganton a few months later, his brother asked an officer if he could hug Nichols before he left, Nichols said.