He did not speculate about Rebecca's motives.
"The child was crying. Her hand was around his arm. I could see red marks."
"Did he strike her?"
"No."
"Did he threaten her?"
"No."
"Was he blocking emergency equipment?"
"No."
"Did you hear her use the phrase 'you people'?"
"Yes."
The videos did the rest.
Rebecca's attorney argued that the cabin was noisy, the child was moving against instruction, and the contact lasted less than a minute. He emphasized that flight attendants must sometimes make rapid decisions.
Those were legitimate points to argue.
The prosecutor, Angela Rivera, did not ask the jury to hate Rebecca.
She asked them to look at the sequence.
A child makes a request.
The employee assumes he is lying.
The child provides verifiable information.
The employee does not verify it.
The child asks not to be touched.
The employee increases physical control.
The child cries.
The employee continues.
"Authority explains why Ms. Morrison had responsibility," Angela said in closing. "It does not explain away how she used it."
The jury deliberated just under two hours.
They convicted Rebecca on the primary battery charge involving physical contact with a minor and acquitted her on one broader endangerment count the prosecution had charged more aggressively.
Naomi was relieved by the mixed verdict.
Not because she wanted Rebecca spared.
Because it showed the jury had evaluated each count separately rather than treating the case as a referendum on racism.
At sentencing, the judge considered the lack of prior criminal history, Rebecca's employment history, the public consequences she had already experienced, the pattern evidence admitted for limited purposes, and the harm to Elijah.
The sentence included a short custodial term, most of it suspended after service of a limited period, probation, community service that did not place her in unsupervised authority over children, counseling, and compliance with aviation administrative decisions.
The FAA later revoked her certificate of demonstrated proficiency after its own process.
She could appeal.
Naomi did not celebrate.
Outside the courthouse, reporters crowded behind a barrier.
She gave one statement.
"A verdict cannot erase what happened to my son or the people whose complaints were ignored before him. What it can do is establish that authority has limits. I am grateful to the witnesses who spoke, the jurors who took the evidence seriously, and the people who told the truth years before anyone listened."
A reporter shouted, "Do you forgive Rebecca Morrison?"
Naomi stopped.
"Forgiveness is not something I owe the public as a performance. My responsibility is to my son and to the system I help lead."
Then she left.
Dennis Morrison's case resolved later.
He did not go to trial on every accusation discussed in the press. Several allegations could not be proved criminally. He eventually pleaded guilty to a records-related obstruction offense supported by the system logs and the message asking a subordinate to remove archived attachments.
He received a custodial sentence followed by supervised release and financial penalties.
Skyward's employment decision remained separate.
Naomi made sure every public statement said so.
A company could fire someone under employment standards without pretending that every ethical failure was a crime.
That distinction became one of the reforms' quiet lessons.