"I honestly was thinking I was going to have to get a job and take care of my siblings."

So recalls Aleisha Brown, now 20, about the aftermath of her mother's murder on Sept. 30, 2020, when Aleisha was 15.

Her mother, Shawntae Brown, was killed by her husband and high school sweetheart, Joshua Brown, who beat her to death over the course of 24 hours in their home in Spencer, Okla.

In an interview with PEOPLE, Aleisha recounts being a teenager, saying that when her parents began to argue that day, her focus was on distracting her two younger siblings, then 14 and 7.

The argument kept escalating, and Joshua grew violent. At that point, Aleisha realized she wasn’t just shielding her siblings anymore — she was fighting to save her mom.

Aleisha ultimately lost her mother that night, and he

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