Parents: Slain TV Anchor Never Regained Consciousness

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – The parents of slain TV anchorwoman Anne Pressly say their daughter never fully regained consciousness after the beating that resulted in her death and couldn't say who took her life.

Guy and Patti Cannady said Monday in an interview NBC's "Today" show that they were grateful for the outpouring that followed the attack on their daughter.

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Patti Cannady was visiting Little Rock on Oct. 20 and drove to her daughter's home when Pressly didn't answer her customary wake-up call.

"It was the most shocking thing that anyone could see in their entire life," Patti Cannady said. "I couldn't even grasp what I was seeing in my mind."

She said she could not get an answer from her 26-year-old daughter about what happened.

"I was telling her how much I loved her, that I was going to get help," she said, and asked, "Anne, who did this to you, who did this? I just couldn't fathom what I was seeing."

Her father said Pressly was unable to communicate.

"She was non-responsive during that period of time," Guy Cannady said. "Due to the extent of the injuries ... she never really regained consciousness."

Pressly was a morning anchorwoman for Little Rock television station KATV, an ABC affiliate.

Little Rock police spokesman Lt. Terry Hastings said Monday that there were no new developments and that investigators were still trying to match up evidence with a suspect. Hastings said DNA and other evidence from the scene gave police a portrait of the person they're looking for, but they still don't have a name.

One of Pressly's credit cards was used at a gas station after the beating, but Hastings said security camera footage didn't provide a good look at the person using it.

Pressly's parents said that the afternoon of Oct. 25, doctors said test results indicated their daughter would not recover. Pressly died that evening. They said they consented to Pressly's organs being donated and that six people received her organs.

"This is what Anne would have wanted," Patti Cannady said. "And that's why her service was joyful and a celebration of her life. She would not want us to be mourning."