Please excuse me while I jump off of your post to make a point, Hippy Chick. The kind of gathering you're talking about is fairly common in most parts, though customs vary among cultures. It's certainly the norm here in New Orleans to eat and drink after funerals. In fact, practically every funeral home in the area has a restaurant and barroom nearby so we can start "gathering" while the wake's going on the night before the funeral. In some circles, your friends might even hold a second line parade for you the next morning with music and dancing once you're in the ground. Likewise, in the case of illness, families get together and share food and drink. Depending on the age of the ailing person and the circumstances, the atmosphere often becomes jovial. Not so when the victim is a child, however. If there is a gathering, or repast, after a child's funeral, the atmosphere is always somber. At least that's been my experience, and I can't imagine it's much different anywhere else.
Also, in this case, Hailey was not known to be dead. She had disappeared just a few days earlier under mysterious circumstances. There was a possibility that she was suffering, that she was being held captive, raped and tortured. She might've been lying somewhere injured and unable to get help. All sorts of possibilities exist, and for many of us it's inconceivable that a parent could forget them for even a moment.
Then there's the fact that it was NYE, which is normally an occasion to celebrate. So a get together on that particular night gives the impression that the focus was not on Hailey, or coming together to show support for Billie in her hour of need, but rather having a good time. That is why this "party" has become an issue in this case, and why LE saw fit to mention it in the affadavit, imo. It's highly unusual to the point of indicating malevolence on someone's part. But like I said in my previous post, we don't know if Billie was a willing participant, and because of my experience, I've chosen to give her the benefit of the doubt.
ETA: Oh, for crying out loud. LOL I just noticed a huge mistake in my other post! My husband had renal cancer. My mother had the other, and more.
