Kriti Mehrotra
CBS’s ’48 Hours: The Case Against Nicole Addimando’ explores the life and slaying of Christopher Grover, along with highlighting how his then live-in girlfriend was charged, arrested, and convicted of his murder. In the fall of 2017, Chris, his partner Nicole, and their two children were residing in a three-bedroom basement apartment in east Poughkeepsie, in upstate New York, when Nicole shot and killed the father of her children as he slept on the couch.
Nicole never once denied pulling the trigger, admitting to the fact back on September 28, 2017, itself. Yet she maintains she did so because Chris was physically, mentally, and emotionally abusive toward her. Nicole killed him, she says, in self-defense since she was afraid for her life, along with that of her children. However, owing to her extreme actions, Nicole actually ended up far away from the very people she always wanted to keep safe and by her side.
Who Are Nichole and Chris’ Kids?
Nichole and Chris met and began their relationship in 2008, shortly after they both graduated high school. And while he chose a career as a gymnastics coach, she decided to work as a preschool teacher due to her affinity towards kids. Thus, when she fell pregnant with their firstborn, Ben, in 2012, the couple mutually agreed that Nicole would leave her job to raise him. Two years later, this extended to their second child as well, a daughter who they named Faye.
Both Ben and Faye grew up being attached to their mother, who, with money always being tight, found free, time-consuming, and tiring activities for them throughout the town. She took them apple-picking, corn-maze-walking, and even taught them how to roller-skate. Yet life at home for the kids was much different, as made clear by the psychologist who worked with them at the time of Nicole’s trial. They claimed that both Ben and Faye showed signs of having witnessed domestic violence.
Nichole and Chris’ Kids Are Under Their Aunt’s Guardianship Today
When Nicole was charged and arrested for murdering her boyfriend in 2017, her children were given to her sister, Michelle Horton, for care. And now, more than five years later, the single mother of a boy herself, has permanent custody of them. Residing in New York, she is raising all three kids by herself and is determined to help her sister, an alleged victim of abuse, gain back her freedom. According to her social media platforms, Michelle, the founder/former creator of Early Mama and a current social media specialist at Omega Institute, is managing all this with the help of the website called We Stand With Nikki and a fundraiser. But more importantly, she makes sure to take Ben and Faye to visit their mother every single week.
The still-active GoFundMe page for the latter clarifies that all the money donated would go towards helping Michelle face the “tremendous financial challenge” of raising “3 children on her own,” which, of course, includes Ben and Faye. According to an update on the page, “the money is already being put to good use, with some of the funds going towards summer camp tuition for Ben and Faye. After being quarantined for months with their aunt Michelle, they are so excited to start doing activities and interacting with other children.” She has also established a new trust for the kids with these funds. All Ben, Faye, or their aunt are looking for now is support and well wishes.
Read More: Where is Michelle Horton Now?
