 Amy Lynn Bledsoe was born June 23, 1986 to parents Mary and Victor Bledsoe in Oxford, Mississippi. Mary had looked forward to being a parent and was a full time homemaker reveling in her role as a mother.
Amy was showered with love by both parents but Mary seemed obsessed with her child and rarely left her alone. She refused to leave her baby with a sitter for fear something might happen to her. Victor went along with her, but worried that Amy was being smothered by her mother’s constant hovering.
When Amy entered kindergarten, Mary enrolled her in dancing lessons but Amy rebelled at the “girly” activity. At Victor’s urging, Amy began Bobby Sox Softball as soon as she turned five. Victor became a coach and Mary, reluctantly at first, participated as a team mother or scorekeeper making Amy’s activity a family endeavor. Amy seemed to enjoy playing softball, but berated everyone including her teammates for their mistakes; the coaches for not playing her more and her parents for letting the coaches get away with criticizing her. Consequently, she was not popular with other players, the coaches or other parents who considered her a spoiled brat.
In school Amy was an average student who balked at having her mother work as a volunteer aid in the classroom. The teachers finally had to ask Mrs. Bledsoe to discontinue her volunteer work since her presence seemed to distress Amy and consequently disrupted the classroom
By the time Amy was in high school her parents’ marriage was in trouble and ended in divorce in Amy’s junior year. She maintained a good relationship with her father, in spite of her mother’s interference, until he remarried. Amy confided to a friend that she sensed her dad’s wife, Jessica, seemed to resent her and no matter what she did, it was wrong in Jessica’s eyes. But the friend knew of things Amy had done to purposely antagonize Jessica.
When Amy was old enough to get a work permit she began working at McDonald's. She worked her way up to manager by the time she graduated from high school. Mary was not happy that between sports, school and work Amy was not at home with her more often and seemed to be drifting away.
After high school graduation, Amy worked longer and longer hours. She had recently confided to friends that she was saving money to get away from her mother’s eyes and ears and get her own space.
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