Dumb Blonde - Brandon and Zane: Picking Up the Pieces

Episode Date: October 28, 2024

It’s a full house as Bunnie continues on Part 2 of the Wade Wilson case. JD Delay is back, joined by Diane Ruiz’s sons, Brandon Cuellar and Zane Romero, for an emotional conversation honoring their mother’s legacy as a fiercely strong, independent woman and devoted mom. Brandon and Zane revisit the tragic events that brought them here but focus on the many positive ways they’re moving forward. Together, they also pay tribute to Kristina Melton, ensuring her memory lives on.Brandon and Zane's Go Fund MeWatch Full Episodes & MoreSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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a question. I want to know why in the hell are you not on Patreon? I don't think you guys even realize how much content we have on Patreon. Let me it down for you we have the bunny xo show we have meet the d forts we have propaganda we have more shows that we're adding and not to mention we have the visuals of the podcast head over to www.patreon.com backslash dumb blonde podcast and sign up bunny xo she was a vegas group bunny xo dumb blonde podcast and bunny xo is this thing on what's up you sexy motherfuckers welcome to part two of last week's episode but today we have we still have jd delay here zane is joining us on the couch and brandon is here what's up you guys how are you you want to move that closer to you so you don't there you go yeah there is can i get closer so you don't have to move it there you go all right what's up, you guys? How are you? You want to move that closer to you so you don't. There you go. Yeah, there is. Can I get closer so you don't have to move it? There you go. All right. What's up, guys? How are you? Thank you for joining us.

No, thank you. This is a very interesting experience, especially since I've never been to Nashville before. we're willing to come here and sit on this couch. And, you know, like I've, I've been talking with JD for the past two hours about, you know, the whole entire situation that has happened, the case and all that stuff. And, um, you know, I just think it's so important that the people get to see your faces. And it's like my husband said downstairs, it's like that dude's going to be locked in a cell and he's going to be forgotten about the person that we can make sure that isn't forgotten is Diane Ruiz and Christine Melton so and that's what that's what we want to do here today is just to honor your mom I think a really cool situation that we got to experience together was on your mom's birthday you guys got to come and watch my husband perform like how fucking like awesome was that just the

timing wise that one that one was actually great because that was just I would believe that straight faith because out of the conversations that we had before and then when you told me to pick a tour date and then I looked at his tour dates it it is a jelly roll when I looked at his tour dates and I looked at it there was one out in Florida, out in Orlando. And it was literally on my mother's birthday. I'm like, this is fate talking right here. So it was meant to be. So it was a great experience, though.

And I loved every moment of it. I was so thankful to have you guys there. Thank you guys for just even coming. That meant so much to me. Thank you for the invite, of course. It was definitely amazing, especially since I no longer live in Florida. It was really nice celebrating her birthday in Florida since that's where she was mostly. Absolutely. Anytime you guys want to come to any show, you guys, lifers, we're lifers.

So any show you guys want to come, same with you, JD. Anytime you guys ever want to come to a show, just hit me up. You guys are in like Flynn. And it's funny because behind the scenes, I was talking with bunny and she's like i'm so excited to have them and she's like i'm a little bit nervous because i just love them so much and i haven't met them yet so it was such it was she was so happy and honored to have you guys there man no it was it was truly an honor especially considering how we met you know and um after i put that video online of us meeting, of course, there was people who were like, Oh, now she wants to help the victims. And it's like,

I don't think people realize the relationship that we've developed, um, in these past four months. And, you know, even with JD too, like, I don't know this all my mistake brought all of us together. And for that, I'm so fucking thankful for because this has been a wild ride. And it's like, I was just telling JD in the last episode, like when the Lord gives me lessons, he really gives me lessons, but this has been a blessing and a lesson. And, um, I'm just honored to have you guys, you know, be a part of my life. Um, so let's get into how you and I, the first night that you and I had a conversation. Do you remember that night actually actually I do uh I was in the middle of work and uh I'm getting all these messages from people saying that uh that you made a comment about the situation I'm totally clueless because

I'm in the middle of work I work in the kitchen I'm getting and I'm getting my shit wrecked with a bunch of tickets a bunch of orders I I got my best friend literally calling me like, yo, Bunny had just made a comment about the situation. And I was still in the middle of work. And then I think you posted another comment or something like that. I don't remember it like fully, but I remember it came to a point in time where I told my best friend like, shout out to me, by the way. Shout out to me. Shout out to me, by the way, shout out to me, shout out to me. And he told me, he's like, yo, I guess Bunny wants to, I guess, speak to you. I'm in the

middle of work. I didn't even know who you were at first. And then when I started, when I started to look you up, that's when, that's when I found out about you. And then I was, I don't want to say speechless though, but I was more on a confusion And then I was, I don't want to say speechless though, but I was more on a confusion because I'm like, I wasn't expecting this to happen. I'm in the middle of work and just, I guess if I was to really think a lot deeper into it, it was like, my mother liked jelly roll. And then if you are his wife, it's like, there's something there. There's a small connection that'll force me to engage the situation. You know what I mean?

Yeah. And then when I finally engaged it, I believe my mother's soon to be husband, Scott, I believe his I want to say his daughter had messaged me also. Yeah, that's how I had spoken to you was she had dm'd me and said hey uh i think she said brandon would like to talk to you or something like that and i was like yes connect us i would love to speak with him because i was just like i was at this point i had fucking got myself and you know stuck my foot in my mouth and got myself in a world of shit and i was just like how can i fix this because i'm the type of person if i do something wrong i want to write it yeah and that's just how it's gonna go and i will go to the fucking ends of the earth until i write it yeah and then i do want to go back to where we first started and you

called it a mistake i wouldn't call it a mistake at all if it led us to this point now because it's always a blessing i mean there's certain ways that some situations have to be brought up and if that was to be brought up like that i wouldn't call it a mistake at all you know what i mean i appreciate you so much i can say that deeply down but also i don't want you to feel bad because at the time i'm obviously i'm very avid on tiktok and it was very popular at the time and i you know i scroll and stuff like that and what you said wasn't wasn't even bad compared to other things I've seen it definitely does not cross other lines you know I appreciate that I could have been a lot more sensitive I think the laughing is what and I also think because and this is not me justifying what I said at all but I think because I'm a blonde and I'm you know

a big personality and he's a man that people think is attractive, they immediately wanted to make it seem like I was romanticizing it. And that's really not what I was doing. Like, and I could see how it had been, uh, you know, translated into that. And I don't want to keep focusing on that because you know, what I did was wrong and there's no excuse for it. And've learned a valuable lesson but it's brought us here today and you know that first conversation I was telling JD about it um in the last episode and um you had got on the phone and I instantly you know just had tears and like a lump in my throat and I was just like I'm so sorry like that's all I could say to you and you were just so fucking sweet about it, Brandon. You were just

like, dude, bunny, I I'm not offended. You don't have to say sorry. And I was just like, that made me even more emotional because I was like, Oh, son of a bitch. Why do you got to be so nice? Tell me I'm a fucking asshole, you know? Like, but it was just so sweet. And then from there, we have just developed this friendship, um, you know, and I got to talk to Zane too. And I think the coolest thing is, is, you know, I had, I told everybody that I, you know, cause whenever I did promote you guys as GoFundMe, people came back to me and they were like, well, why haven't you donated? And I'm like, I donated to them privately and what I donated them doesn't need to be public fodder. When I came to you guys also, I was like willing to pay for zane's college tuition

and he's so fucking smart he has a whole fucking scholarship so i'm like of course i want to pay a freaking tuition and dudes already got it covered no because it was such like a really spontaneous offer that was really nice and like i did look into it like i looked into like everything and i was like oh like it's it's paid already no because it felt embarrassing like declining because i was like i'm so sorry no i don't want your money going somewhere like it wasn't gonna go like anywhere no i was just i i was tickled pink and i even told my husband that because he's paid a few college tuitions and i was like you know what i'm just gonna pay his

tuition and you know whatever and you're just so smart that it's already and i was just like that's so awesome that diane raised two amazing kids because brandon you work so fucking hard every time i talk to you you're working and zane you are so studious like even you're like well i can do the podcast but i have to make sure that i don't miss any classes and like i just love that the fact that that's instilled in you guys and you guys just you know i don't know i just love you guys i really do i love everything about you and we love you as well i appreciate i appreciate you so much you don't understand i appreciate you guys. So let's talk about, you know, this entire situation that has brought us together. And, you know, I'm going to let you guys go ahead and start because I don't want to tread on any territory that I'm not, you know, you guys aren't comfortable with.

So can you guys take me back to when this first happened and you know the the events that happened after you want me to go first um for me i was actually in class and it was a very interesting like situation because i had no clue like i had absolutely no clue that she even went missing how old were you i was 14 in my freshman year of high school. And how old were you, Brandon? I mean, I want to say I was 24, almost 25, I would say. Okay. So yeah. And at the time we,

we were poor, so we didn't really have like Wi-Fi and stuff like that. And Brandon didn't have cell service. So he was like contacting me through snapchat and I I was basically like leave me alone I'm in the middle of class what are you doing like you're at home it can't be that important right and he was like no I need um Scott's number which is my mom's ex-boyfriend or boyfriend at the time um were you guys close with your mom at this time were you guys guys in constant contact with her? What was the relationship like? Yeah, we had dinner with her that night before.

Brandon cooked dinner and we ate with her that night before. And that was literally my best friend in life. My number one best friend. I kind of grew up young though, but since she was a strong independent woman. When my mother had separated from Zane's father is when I really knew how independent she was. When you say you had to grow up young, what do you mean by that? What I mean by grow up young is that, you know, when they separated, I had to help out with my brother here. Had to make sure that he got to school.

When he got out of school, I would make sure that he got to school when he got out of school I would make sure that I would be there at the bus stop cook at home and just help out around the house because my mother would work two jobs but if she had one job she would work the doubles as much as she can so that she was able uh able to like provide for us so I did a lot more well so you I would say that's pretty normal though but it did a lot more. Well, so you I would say that's pretty normal, though, but it's a lot more responsibilities on a 12 or like a 13 year old at the time. You know what I mean? That's heavy. You know, I had to take care of my little sister. So I understand that. Absolutely. So and then it just got to a point where we had a connection where she wasn't only playing that mother role. She's playing the mother, the father role, even even my best friend role.

only playing that mother role she's playing the mother the father role even even my best friend role i could take anything too i could speak about anything with her and she'll just state her opinion or what i should do you know what i mean because there's sometimes where like a son and a mother there's some things that a son won't even speak to her mother about but they'll speak to her but speak to their best friend about you know what i mean it'll be in the dark with with their mother i i could speak to my mother about anything no and and she wouldn't feel no type of way about it she would just state her opinion and i would respect it so she sounds like an amazing woman she is though so so zane you were sitting in class. And he basically just started spam texting me on Snapchat, asking for Scott's number. And I sent him the screenshot, went on with my day, going through classes.

And then again, I'm starting to get spam calls. I'm literally walking on the bus to go home. And he's like, don't take the bus. We're going to pick you up from school. And I'm like, I'm already on the road. There's nothing you can do about that now. So he's like, OK, where's your bus stop? I we're gonna pick you up from school and I'm like I'm already on the road like there's nothing you can do about that now um so he's like okay where's your bus stop I'm gonna like pick you up from there and I'm like unbelievably confused I'm like what are you doing like why are you picking me up I didn't want to worry him yeah well I already know yeah man did

not say anything um so I was so confused I was like are we going somewhere like are we trying to like go to a restaurant or something after I get from class um i show up and like he's he picks me up from my bus stop and then he's walking me and we're just like chit-chatting we're almost like back to the house and then he goes yeah so they just kind of like showed up with mommy's purse and i was like huh and i was like so i'm gonna stop you there really. So Brandon, you knew that your mom was missing. I was the first one to see her and the last one. So like how that started was. Well, I had woke up and then I went to the living room. My mom was getting ready for work. She dresses how she always dresses. Since since I wasn't always with her at the time that she went missing I was actually living out in Orlando for almost five years and the reason why I had went to Cape Coral

was because I separated from the mother of my child and that was my go-to house to go to until I figured my own stuff out so I was literally only there for like three months and the situation happened but uh I woke up one day and then and then's like, all right, well, I'm on my way to work. Can you just make sure to cook dinner for everyone? I said, yes, of course. And then she said, love you. I said, I love you back. And then she went out today.

It is to start her own day. And then about an hour or two later is when the cops came and then they knocked on my door. Knowing my own mother, she never forgets her purse. And I'm sure you can also relate to that. That never goes missing. You know what I mean? Right. So I believe it was two officers, one man, one woman.

From my own memory, I know I had went and blocked out a lot of it. But they said that they found my mother's purse. I thought that was odd. So the first thing I told them was, well, she works at the Moose Lodge. That's only about a five minute drive away. And they did exactly that. But they came back 30 minutes later saying that your mother isn't at work. So my first instinct was, all right, I need to put a missing persons report out.

isn't at work so my first instinct was all right i need to put a missing persons report out and then when i found that out is when i'm trying to call zane right let me get scott's number even though that zane is confused about it i don't want to worry him i'm gonna just let you know i'm gonna let you enjoy your day at school i'm gonna fill you in after after you get home and then zane so you're sitting there and we'll tie it back in together so you're sitting there you're confused you're like what the fuck's going on bro yeah and i remember just like walking back into the house and the purse is like still there like they didn't take it yet for evidence and like everything basically except her phone was still in there like they were still like cash and stuff or vape everything um so we were confused we were just

like did she like forget it and just only take her phone or something like that or like leave it somewhere overnight and um and then I guess I don't know a lot of the times I didn't really talk to any of the cops because I wasn't like involved at all I didn't see her that day I woke up at like six in the morning to get to like school for the bus right so most of the time it was just me going with like my brother and scott right and just like going with them to the station and then like sitting in like a police room just kind of like waiting for them to get out because they don't want me to leave home and then also my brother was paranoid he was like i don't know what's going

on like what if they're like gonna go after you or something next or something like that um which again so makes complete sense. So I just kind of like went with them everywhere and like followed them while they did all like the stuff. But half the time I was never like in the rooms with them when they had to do the interviews. I was just kind of in a side room waiting, like a lobby basically.

Yeah. During this time, did you guys feel like something was off or were you guys just thinking that maybe she was like went to go take a mental health day or something I was trying to think on the positive side and I was just thinking maybe maybe she just wanted to take a mental health day or she went somewhere and I guess it was like some midlife crisis but I know mom's well I didn't know that but I was hoping for her to come back obviously because you have us all worried though and then when we found out about the true situation is

was very bad though I guess can you guys take me to that moment when you found out what had happened exactly when that happened is when we found out actually Zayn was at school they they completely like for me I'm a complete workaholic so I was I can tell I was I was 14 and in my head I was like she's coming back like dog there's nothing wrong um I was probably just like blocking it out because I I only skipped one day of school like the day she went missing I skipped the the next day, went with them. And then I was like, I got to go back to school. Like, I can't just, like, disappear, obviously, because high school is so important. And now you're like that with college. Yeah, basically.

So this is a character trait, babe, okay? Yeah. But, like, I just went back to school. Like, nothing happened. I was like, because, like, a lot of my friends, since it was, like, popular on the news and stuff like that and nobody was really telling me anything i was just like dog this is fine she's gonna come back like i don't know maybe she she just had a little breakdown like it's okay you know it's normal she's a person whatever um i go along with my school day i'm still going to school and marching band practice i'm doing everything and then i remember it was like on

a thursday and i'm still at practice and i start getting spam texts from my friends specifically and like half of the people are going i'm so sorry zane like that should have never happened i'm like oh what are y'all talking about like she went missing three days ago like i don't know to me it was like oh it's fine like you know she's gonna turn up it was like denial yeah basically um and then i remember my brother pulled up to like pick me up from marching band and then he's with like my sister-in-law's baby mama um she's driving i go in the back seat and then he comes to sit in the back seat with me and like i just kind of like freeze you know uh i i can actually add on that's actually the day that i got into the back

of your car and and then i seen you freeze and then that's when you start wondering and then i don't think i told you until we almost got to the house or when we got to the house no because you told me the moment we started driving it was the moment that she started driving yeah that's the same day that after after we got to the house and we both went and then we both had went into your room and cuddled and cried together you remember that yeah well I don't want to say cuddled though but we hugged each other on the bed crying when when you were just talking about when you found out I could see the pain literally just go across your face and not remembering cuddling and crying with him do you feel like you blacked

out in that moment and just like i mean rightfully so that is the most horrific news you could ever receive the thing is is that i like to think i remember a lot of it but like the fact that you mentioned that i don't i don't recall that at all and i just just remember. I didn't remember that until now, honestly, though. Is that also the day grandma and grandpa came over? I believe they came over the second I called them and let them know that mommy was gone. Yeah. No, no, no, no, no, no. Because, yes, because after they found mommy's body is when grandma and grandpa were like,

mommy's body is when grandma and grandpa were like whoa why don't you just call us when when they find mommy thinking that she's still alive but but when they found my mother's body is when is when i called my grandparents and then and then i gave them the news and then that's the same day they came over oh yeah and like just so you guys know, it's 1000% natural to have periods where you're not going to remember stuff. Like your, your mind is trying to protect itself from something that's like too big for it to process in that moment. And that's like totally, it's a neurological thing. It's your brain trying to love you and protect you from certain stuff. And it happens in these moments. Yeah. Amen. I like the way you said that too, by the way. JD jump in anytime you want

to babe i love that i want them to be able to speak i'm listening to these two i hearing so brave and so strong and i love them yeah yeah i'm willing to find mommy like just oh my god like that always called her mommy i didn't know that i didn't call her mom until until after the tragedy honestly so when she was, it was still always mommy. I would be around my friends and still tell them, I'm like, yo, man, my mommy's calling, bro. You know what I mean? Yes.

So you guys get this horrible news. You know, you guys are processing it. The family's coming in and stuff like that. And then you hear about him getting arrested. Does, what does that make you feel like? Does it feel like rage? Does it feel like relief? Does it feel like some answers are being answered? What in that moment are you guys feeling when he's arrested? Or did you already know that he was going to get arrested? I didn't know anything about it. I didn't know no name. I didn't know anything.

But when I found out that they had arrested somebody, there was rage from the moment that she was gone until even to the end of the court date. Because honestly, that was out in 2019. So there was rage all throughout. And then we went through COVID that pushed back every court date. And then also Florida also went through a hurricane. Even the families and all that went through tragedies. I'm sorry.

But that even going through COVID and then having to go through that hurricane, it went and pushed back every court date. So that made that one court case even longer than it should have. So I'm going through rage years on out. And that rage stopped even out in June when he got convicted. So you felt closure and, like, a little less of that rage once you knew that he got convicted? Yeah, because I know that you are, like, innocent until proven guilty. I know if it wasn't just him,

it could have been like three other people that were in on it you know what i mean yeah so i didn't want to point the finger and like well i didn't want to point the finger until the conviction was there you know what i mean it's crazy how far out covid pushed florida court dates which in in my case like i was facing a case in florida not for anything like crazy like that um but it pushed it out you know two years so you had that unresolved feeling yes for that extra time i'm so sorry you went through that so stressful and uh actually when i got all that like stress or like anger or like pain off of my chest is actually when they showed the recording at the court date of him

finally admitting it to one of the police officers it was kind of hard to hear because it was echoing and like in like that environment once i heard that recording i'm like all right now i'm gonna point the finger now i know who to really be mad at now you know what I mean mm-hmm so Zane how are you feeling oh I'm always mad you know people at home are gonna be like how are they laughing in this moment and I think this is just how some people deal with grief I love you we're best friends about it because one, it's been five years and two, like I didn't really care if he was arrested or not because I was like 14 at

the time. And I, I love you. I appreciate you. And I love my whole family. They rushed my process of grieving very quickly because we didn't live with my grandparents they lived an hour out my brother just moved in it was basically me my mom and then her boyfriend Scott Scott yeah Scott um and it was just like us three for a little bit and then

Scott's like sister lived with us it was kind of like that weird thing and then when she died i was just kind of like what like what am i supposed to do because right after that again my mind went i have to go back to school like i have to go do stuff so but that's that is a coping mechanism yeah because i'm the same way i can be literally my dad passed away and this is not even close to your guys's story but my dad passed away and i was at work the next day you know like grief is crazy yeah it's a it's a wild ride and nobody can judge you for how you grieve and nobody can tell you how to grieve so most definitely you know it's your journey and it's your process so i'm sorry that you felt like it was rushed it like it makes sense what do you mean by rush because i'm still learning something new enough it makes sense like it everybody was grieving obviously my grandparents my mom's mom

her her dad my brother um i i stay silent i don't fight back with any of my family it's just not something i do um and i remember it was my last week of school um I wanted to go to like my last marching band game so I did and that's when you went grandpa went and then all of that and I remember I went to school that day I was still going to school that week I come back home my room cleared everything gone everybody moved everything out cleared my clothes. They threw away stuff I needed. They threw away stuff like they didn't know I needed. They like cleared out the bathroom. Like everything was gone. I remember walking back at like 10 o'clock at night and just walking into an empty room with just like a bed. And like I broke down. Like I was thinking I was going to pack up my room

that night and then go that like in my mind, I was going to have time and I didn't. And then it was a few days out. Grandma and grandpa immediately wanted to go to my mom's room, take all her clothes. And they just they took everything and they never gave me time. I understand that. I understand that. And your feelings are valid, baby. Like I can see how painful it is, like and how it hurts you to talk about it. And again, they were grieving and not saying what they did was right. But, you know, people all grieve in certain ways. But, yeah, no, I understand.

I'm not, like, mad at them because I get it. Like, it happens. And, again, I was 14. I didn't know what was, like, really going on because I thought I was going to go live in Naples, stay in in Florida and live with those grandparents. But then more stuff happened. And I then ended up just going with my other grandparents and then completely just moving states and then starting at a whole new school, whole new people, like whole new room, whole like new environment. It was it was very interesting, very fast and very sudden and very, you know, you were in your comfort zone living with your mom and, you know, your were in your comfort zone living with your mom and

you know, your brother. So I completely understand what you're saying. Um, you did something really brave though. And I think what stood out to me the most about the trial was your testimony and getting up there. And I mean, man, it was powerful. can you take me into how you were feeling while you're on that stand testifying um so I when I get nervous I just tend to start talking fast um so the whole thing was I just need to get up there and go like I I don't want to be there I again I was in I'm still in college that was during while I was in school because I was taking summer classes because I wanted to get just a whole bunch of things I was in summer classes and I was kind of mad

because I was like oh I have to like go all the way back to Florida to go do this because um my grandpa wrote one and then my brother was supposed to write one, and then he forgot, which is okay. But then it only ended up being me and my grandpa. And the lawyer didn't really like the one my grandpa wrote, because it was more angry instead of like, explain, like explaining stuff. So they asked me, they're like, hey, like, is it okay if we like read it? And I was like, yeah, you guys can read it. Like you can just, you can like read it on the was like yeah you guys can read it like you can just you can like read it on the stand take it like I don't care and then they were like hey can we fly you out for you to come and read it and then I was like maybe um which knowing you now I'm very surprised that you went because you're very like I want it in your routine and again I cope completely differently from my family i don't really

talk about i don't really talk about like my opinions about the whole case with him i i think he's really stupid i don't i don't take him seriously yes yeah he's very stupid he's a dumb he's a dumb jock without the job maybe maybe it's just because i think I'm better than him. Because I am, unfortunately. You are. Oh, honey. You are. That's just kind of my mindset. It was just like, I'm better than him.

And like, what is he going to do? Like, he can't really do anything. And he was just like, he was just there. And it was really weird. Because I remember like, I made like straight eye contact with him. And like, looked at him multiple times. Like, during the thing. Like, while I was speaking on trial um and I don't know it started to scare me at the end but not because

he was in the room but it was more like one there was a camera pointing at me and then I was reading something off a script that I wrote and it was just getting into a point that I, it was more of like, I wish it wasn't live type of point. You feel like it took away from the authenticity? Yeah. Cause being in an enclosed room without like a camera and then a whole bunch of people who don't know you doing that. Cause again, I scrolled through TikTok. TikTok's a terrible place to be but i um say hello for the people in the back baby very terrible i go you know i go through

videos and stuff like that and just like seeing different things it was just like oh okay especially seeing like different point of views from the case especially about me and about like what i was saying it was just like oh this is like real like it just it still doesn't feel real even I refuse to watch my statement um just because I don't I don't like it I don't want to want I just don't watch it and it's probably really hurtful too but can we circle back to something you said you said that you stared Wade in his eyes did he ever make eye contact with you yeah we made our contact like multiple times while I was on the stand. And he just stared back at you? No remorse,

no nothing. Yeah. That's crazy. Brandon, did you ever go to any of the court dates? Oh, yes. Yes, I did.

I believe I went, so when I flew back from being on Martha Vineyard's Island, I went to the first one, went to the second one, then third one, and then, if I can remember correctly,

I left when they wanted me to take Stan a second time. And actually, I'm going to correct you. Grandpa wrote, what is it? The statement? I don't want to say statement. It's more of just speaking about mommy,

the same thing that you did. It was very bland. So they didn't want him to go up there and just say those quick words and just hop off stand uh me the reason i didn't forget i didn't forget say what they kind of made it a production a little bit like they produced what you were gonna say is that normal well so to try to get the outcome that they want with the jury they needed okay they needed somebody to humanize the victims and what what you did was so beautiful with the way that you spoke like i know you don't like to watch it but i've watched it three times and i've cried my fucking face off three times watching you yeah i'm and i cried myself powerful yeah dude oh my

god you were so well spoken you were literally through it yeah and i literally was editing it up to the moment like 30 minutes before because i like put some stuff like i was gonna say in there and then i realized again it was gonna be live and then i was like i'm not putting that out for like everybody and their mom to hear about um so i went to the lawyer and I was like hey like I know you guys already have this printed out I need to like change this like right now what's something that you wanted to change um it was just kind of more like personal stuff about me and I was like if this is going to be recorded and on like I don't need people to like know about tear you apart yeah um so I was just like I need to like

change like or take some of this out like is that okay like I had to ask for permission first before I did it just to make sure because I also knew that it was impactful that's why I wrote it that way it was an impact statement yeah obviously yeah it was an impact statement so like i knew it was gonna do something um it was just like it's definitely something to be proud of yeah you know you stood up for your mom i felt like i got to see and know a little bit of your mom through your testimony which was exactly what they wanted the jury to feel and to be able to do you did so good with that. Yeah, definitely. So Brandon, you did attend some of the dates. Is there, what was the reason why you didn't want to take the stand? Because I remember in a phone call that you and I had,

and I was like, Hey, you know, we're doing this documentary. Um, Wade is going to be a part of it. I've had conversations with him. Are you okay with that? And you, you surprised me because you remember what you said i remember the exact words i probably just spit out something honestly you want to remind me so i can laugh yeah he said he said oh i would love for him to be a part of it because i i have things i didn't get to say to him that i want to fucking say yeah and i was like all right let's fucking do this i was like let's go because uh because with my grandparents that one was very bland on the impact statement i didn't forget i

didn't want to go up on stand a second time because actually my plan was to go up on stand and that well obviously it was for the evidence and i had to confirm it all but I blocked it off so much I could barely remember it so my plan was to go up on that stand and say what I wanted to but when I got up on stand I thought about my mother I'm like hey do I really want to go up on stand and say what I really want to say up on stand when I have to be professional about it do I just answer the questions and then I and do I want to be that impactful on my words in front of everybody on live tv or do I just want to represent my mother the best way I can and let me just answer the questions that they're asking me and then I'm gonna go back and sit down but when they

wanted me to write a impact statement on my mother is when I told them no, because I told them if I go up on that stand a second time, I won't speak about my mother. I'm going to speak my mind after that. And since I missed out on that first time, I don't think I missed out, but I'm going to say I missed out on that first time that I was going to do it a second time on live TV. And then that's when I told them no. And then that's when they asked Zane about it. If you could say anything to Wade, what would you say? If he was listening to this podcast, because we know he will be, is there anything that you would possibly want to say to him?

I think I'm going to save that for later. I'll save that for later. What about you, Zane? Is there anything that you didn't get to say to him that you would love for him to hear? No, not really. Loser! about you zane is there anything that you didn't get to say to him that you would love for him to hear no not really i don't think loser i don't think his IQ is high enough to understand anything i said you know what i think is gonna affect him more that you're calling him a loser and not even saying anything to him because his ego is so fucking fragile dude like he probably wants us to react though you know what i mean exactly i'll save it for later listen i again i don't really

get angry i don't like i don't like yelling i say things very calmly and if i were to say something to him he wouldn't understand unfortunately i don't think he would be able to process what i'm saying he would need a dictionary right next to him literally so you know after your mom's uh after what happened with your mom i don't want to say your i hate saying your mom's, uh, after what happened with your mom, I don't want to say your mom, I hate saying your mom's murder. Cause it just, it's so, I hate it. But after what happened with your mom, what was picking up the pieces like for you? I know you guys had to do the court cases. You guys had to, you know, watch all this stuff unfold on social media and stuff like that. But like

when all the cameras are off and all the I'm sorries and the condolences stop pouring in, where are your hearts at? Where are your heads at? How are you feeling? Well, as of my coping, it's the coping mechanism. I just kept working. And since I cook for a living, I just stride with my passion. And that was kind of helping me out with the pieces. So that's what I want to say that's what really helped me out yeah so I know my mom had always told me hey you got

to keep your eye on the prize and my prize was to be as a chef one day or on my own restaurant even though I'm going through this tragedy right now I gotta make sure that I keep working for these restaurants so that I learn for my own self that I keep working for these restaurants so that I learn for my own self and I keep my eye on the prize because that's the end goal for me yeah so that's what kind of helped me out was just cooking in general so Zane what about you um multiple different things because when I had to like completely move like out of state and go to a different school I like I was scared I didn't know what I was going to do but one there was a marching band so it was just already community so that was easier for me to make friends but like my freshman year

then like hit into COVID so it had to go virtual and I hated being home like I cannot because yours had to sit alone with your thoughts yeah I don't like it I think it's very annoying actually um so like I just you know it's okay to hurt though no and like you've got to feel the most definitely I'm don't worry I've been in therapy since then like literally ever since I like I moved I've been in therapy and like I talk to my therapist about it all the time okay um it's just like when I was there I went into a terrible state because when COVID happened and everything went virtual I like I slept in I laid in bed I let plates stack up in my room for like weeks at a time I wouldn't leave I wouldn't do anything that's depression baby yeah

no a hundred percent um and like it was bad especially because I wasn't do anything. That's depression, baby. Yeah, no, 100%. And like, it was bad, especially because I wasn't leaving to go to school or anything. I had to do all the schoolwork at home and stuff like that. And then the grandparents I lived with at the height of COVID, like two months after like everything happened, my grandpa got COVID and then he was sent to the hospital and I freaked out.

Like I was like, no way um he's fine now he's chilling um but like I remember that led me into like something deeper because again I couldn't leave I couldn't do anything um and it was until junior year when I went back to school in person and I started doing clubs I started making more friends and then I kind of had to like get my shit together because I didn't really know what to do after because like how Brennan mentioned after like the whole situation after going back to like live with my mom. I know I have my grandparents. But like I don't know if I'm going to have that in 20 years to fall back on someone and just be able to sleep on somebody's couch.

Because both of my grandparents are getting old. Life happens. So you feel like. Cycle of life. life happens so you feel like life and i was just like i need to like get stuff together because i can't take things on normal pace as if somebody with two normal living parents going through things being able to like slowly learn lessons it was more of like i have to do this like right now yeah and like nobody else is to help me but like me because you know life I respect that I've moved out at 14 and I had to learn that lesson very fast too and I always

felt the same way you did even though I had parents I it was a home that I didn't want to live in and you have to grow up very fast and you know it's uh it's a tough road but just know that people do love you and that you have a family over here anytime too like both of you guys for sure and JD too we're all family now so don't ever feel like you're alone and you don't have anybody to fall back on because I'll always be in you guys's corner for sure thank you thank you so much if you could if there's one thing that you want people to know about your mom, what is it? I would say down and down that she's literally the true definition of a strong, independent woman. And I can say that proudly.

Yeah. So. What about you, Zane? She was one of the sweetest people i have ever met um and like especially so i used to help her at her job all the time at the moose lodge like i um i did a lot of clubs so i need volunteering hours it was a volunteering place so like i was getting all my hours from like going there and then um surviving off of like tips sometimes because I would like bus and help or whatever. So I knew a lot of the people like she would hang.

Well, she would hang around at work and like they loved her. Like everybody would always come up to me and be like, your mom's so sweet, especially when I would help around. They would always be like, you look exactly like her. And like at the bar and like I would help around they would always be like you look exactly like her and like at the bar um and like I would just like hang out at her job and hang out with like all the people she would be around and like they absolutely loved her and how like caring and kind she was I love that and what do you think the biggest lesson in life is that your mom has taught taught you? I would say to always survive on yourself, to always be dependent on yourself and not like strongly rely on other people. What about you, Brandon? I think I can say the same exact thing. Yeah. So I think that still falls under on being a strong, independent woman.

Even though, like, even for all the women, that still plays on both sides. You know what I mean? So a strong, independent man and then a woman is still on the same, same, like, same role. It's still the same topic. You know what I mean? Yeah, absolutely. So it's still equal as one.

Yeah. JD, do you have any questions for them? I'm just so impressed. I know, I'm watching your face over here. I'm so honored to be sitting here next to both of these incredible men. And it's such a testament to who their mother was, the way that they've just walked this out

with integrity and just strength. Smiles. Yeah, like I'm so happy to see them smiling. Yeah. It's so awesome to see them carry the torch of who their mother was inside of them and to be able to shine outwardly and share that with the world that is going to far outlast that uh joker wannabe lame motherfucker uh who's going to spend his last days rotting in prison, terrified that other inmates are going to get ahold of him, their love and their mother is going to be just pushed out into

the universe. And it's going to impact so many people and it's going to be remembered. Absolutely. Diane and Christine forever. So let's talk about you guys' GoFundMe that you guys have. I have been so just kind of baffled at the fact that this man has raised the amounts of money that he has, um, for his GoFundMe. And then when you guys told me you guys had a GoFundMe and I went and I looked at it, you know, getting people to donate to victims is crazy. They would rather donate to murderers than victims. And that's insane to me. And it's really sad. So I would like to promote you guys' GoFundMe on this podcast.

And if anybody at home feels it on their heart to donate, then thank you and bless you guys. But how can they find your GoFundMe? Do they look it up under your name or how does that work? We could put it in a link to the podcast. Yeah. I know you were the one that had created it. Yeah, I created it.

And it's basically just a link. Brandon has kind of just been sharing it around. And it's just kind of getting through there i know brandon shared it on like facebook and stuff like that yeah i did it on my facebook i haven't really went and went and promoted it like anywhere else yeah because uh i don't think i think i told you before that we were we were even well i don't want to say scared because at at that still time it's still like asking people for money. It took us since 2019 to even now. That was in a conversation out of all those years

that we didn't want to create it at all. And that's so sad that your mom was taken and you are so scared to create a GoFundMe, but this dude over here is the person who took your mother from you and another woman off this earth, and he's asking everybody for money. Yeah. It's insane that you guys had to feel like that.

That's not okay, and that's not fair, and I feel like that's so crazy that our world operates like that. I think that just plays a role in us just trying to be independent. You know what I mean? Yeah. It could be just a pride thing i don't know though but uh when we finally when we finally had uh went and created it uh i'm gonna take this back to timmy shout out to me too by the way we didn't want to create it though but

there it'll come to like a point in time where you hear and you listen to like everyone's opinions most of them and you're just gonna hear it but you're not listening yeah so like what had really convinced me and like changed my train of thought and so wanting to like even even create a gofundme timmy went and told me why don't you just think of it why don't you just think of it in a different way why don't you just think of it as your mom and she's still creating these blessings from up above and that's what really touched me and went and timmy sounds like a stand-up guy i love timmy he's so nice i've known him since i was like five you know that's the one thing that really touched me and then it actually convinced me to want to create it because out of all those

years you know i'm getting messages from everybody why don't you create this even even like as i'm reading all their opinions it didn't really touch me they're like why don't you just create it but timmy is the one that was like why don't you just think of it as your mom and she's still creating blessings from up above that's what really touched me though i'm like you know what i think you're right about that one yeah so i couldn't deny that one you know what i mean yeah for sure i mean honestly it's you guys deserve to be able to have something like that and like you know you're in college you're even though you're smart as hell and fucking have your college paid for there's still the golden child literally there's still you guys are both golden there's still um you know bills that have to be paid you're still picking up your life like thing you guys were living golden. There's still, um, you know, bills that have to be paid. You're still picking up your life.

Like thing you guys were living with your mother when this happened, you know? So, I mean, I think it's more than fair. And so what we'll do is put the GoFundMe link on this episode. We'll put it up on the screen here. And then,

um, if you're listening, I don't know how GoFundMe works, but can they just type your name, your mom's name in or your name in or how does that work I I think it's called um I did put her name it's like help Diane Ruiz's two sons yeah I think it's something like yeah just maybe go to GoFundMe type in it but if not we'll put the link at the on Apple and Spotify so that you guys can click it.

And then when these episodes come out, I will put the link in my bio on both of my TikToks and in my Instagram. So that, you know, if you guys want to go donate and you guys need to find the link, you guys can find it in those places too. I'm upset that I didn't even know that there was a GoFundMe for them. Like it's just been so vocal that uh that weirdo yeah had one i did not know that this existed and i can now share this i'm sorry that i wasn't able to share it on my platforms before it's okay a lot of i didn't know they had one either until they told me still feel it took brandon a lot of convincing to even convince me to want to do it because I feel bad I like I don't

know it's just it feels like guilt money and it's just like I don't know it it was 50 50 and then again at the same time I remembered I was like I I am in college and this and that and that it's people saying they love you and like, here's a chance at life. You know, sorry that your mom was taken. And it's people willing and choosing to, which I'm very thankful for. It's people who really want to. Because I kept having people come to me and be like, we like want to give you money.

And it's just like, oh. I think that's a way of people just showing you love and just giving you an outpouring of love. So if the world wants to embrace you guys, let them. Because you guys deserve it, you know. I couldn of love. So if the world wants to embrace you guys, let them cause you guys deserve it. You know, I couldn't imagine losing a parent the way that you guys did and just having the resilience and just beautiful smiles and the strength that you guys have.

Like, I'm just, I'm really like an awe of you too. Oh, JD, is there anything else you want to touch base on or talk to them about before we head out? I'm just so grateful that I got the chance and opportunity to meet you, Bunny.

Thank you so much for letting me be here for this part of this, because I really wanted to be here and I really wanted to just be able to sit by your guy's side while you guys remembered your mom. And I didn't know whether you were going to have choice words for the other side, but I think it's just honestly awesome to just let him go unspoken. He's on his way out. He's fading. Uh,

the universe just echoed. Womp. Womp. Unfortunately, I'm out here living my best life and he's not. Yeah. When's the next time he's going to go to the beach? I'm going next summer, though. He's doing meth in his gel cells.

That's the only vacation he's getting. It's the reality of it, though. So I think that's the main reason in, like, never reacting to with anything on social media and all that. You know what I mean? You guys are gangster because I fucking react to shit. I'm always in trouble. I'm always in trouble. JD, shout in trouble. JD shout out where people can find you. If they don't know your social set, shout out your YouTube and your Tik TOKs or whatever

socials you want. Uh, so I'm JD, JD delay 51 50 on YouTube, Tik TOK, uh, Facebook, uh, Instagram, uh, probably X. I'm not sure, but I hate up. That platform scares me. It's crazy over there. It's crazy. I have a team that does X and I don't know how often they upload there or anything. Uh, I'm it's nuts over there. Yeah. I don't even, that's my lowest platform. Cause I'm scared of it. Literally. Do you guys have any platforms that you guys want to promote? I know you guys are pretty private, but you said you have a tick tock. I mean, that's how you can get your story out too. And just have people follow your journey in life is sharing on TikTok. I will definitely think about that one. Because like I do post, but it's more like friends kind of post, you know, like I only want my 10,

my 10 people to see. But if you would love to follow my art account it's romero.zrr or if you actually want to follow me you can follow me on x in zane eex i think i think that's what it is but if you just type in my name it will probably show up what about you brandon uh with mine my uh i'm gonna keep my facebook private that's more for like friends and family. My Instagram is open. It's not private at all, but it's just AYE underscore B239, and that'll be it. Awesome. Thank you guys for coming and sharing your story. I do want to include something, though.

Even though that we are holding the torch for mom, I do want to remind everybody that for the Christine Melan, we do also hold her torch up as well. Absolutely. Absolutely. Especially her family. She can't be forgotten as well. You know what I mean? Her family, didn't her family donate some stuff to you guys too? So from what I was told, I believe the post came from like jumpsuit pablo uh i guess i guess uh i don't i don't know the whole story completely but i know that i read

something and then i guess whatever he made from whatever the social media on the wade wilson case uh it'll it'll be donated onto the gofundme but i guess I don't know if he spoke to the Christine Melton's family, but I guess he's making the donation in memories of Christine Melton. And when I got those screenshots through like Coral on TikTok, and then even Melissa, when I first read that screenshot, I literally had just broke down in tears

when I read it. So even though that we're here from my own mother and we can't forget about christine moan as well no never and we did we talked about her in the first part too so yeah definitely i just i uh we haven't been able to get a hold of anybody in christine's family and if anybody from christine's family wants to come and share her story on this podcast you got my couch is always open to you guys for anybody who doesn't know the whole context with the jumpsuit pablo thing uh jumpsuit pablo actually made merch making fun of wade wilson

and was getting money to be able to donate like 100 of of the profits towards you know the victims families um and yeah the the meltons were like please give it uh and give it an honor of christine which the whole thing god the humanity of it the kindness the compassion of of the people over here is just such a stark contrast to all of the insanity over there it's disgusting yeah yeah i and i just i feel like this side is just so full of love and giving and everybody just wants to heal and watch you guys heal. That other side is just, it's disgusting. They're eating each other. Because it's just people who are critically online.

They have nothing better to do with their life. It's the keyboard peckers. It's the keyboard peckers online. It's the keyboard peckers online. Oh, keyboard peckers online. I thought you said keyboards and peckers. I was like, ooh, interesting. It's the keyboard peckers. Interesting take said keyboards and peckers I was like ooh interesting interesting take

I'm like I never heard that one oh my goodness that's hilarious keyboard peckers I love that I did learn though throughout life though

the internet is undefeated so I'm not going to let them get any reaction out of me through it even though that they are

also having calls with Wade Wilson and then they're posting all that up I'm not going to react to any of it it's just I got to protect my peace at all costs Even though that they are also having calls with Wade Wilson and then they're posting all that up. I'm not going to react to any of it. It's just I got to protect my peace at all costs. And that is the one thing that my mother did teach me.

Make sure you protect your peace at all costs. Yeah. Shout out, Diane. We love you. And we know you're shining down. We all love you and miss you. And these kiddos of yours. And they love and miss you. Thank you guys for being here.

Thank you so much. guys for being here thank you so much thank you thank you guys for tuning in to another episode of dumb blonde i will see you guys next week bye bye