The Daily Swarm

Sun Times – The Kelly Chronicles:

Edwards took the stand at around 2:30, wearing large silver hoop earrings, with a small patch of glitter near her left eye. She told Boliker of receiving a phone call in December 2001 from a lawyer named “Buddy,” who wanted her to view a videotape.

“There was this thing out there possibly depicting my [relative],” Edwards said.

The lawyer, who according to later testimony was named Buddy Meyers, sent an assistant to Sparkle’s Chicago residence to show her the tape. The lawyer insisted that no one else be present, Edwards said.

After watching the tape, she determined the girl shown engaging in sex acts was her relative, and the man was Kelly, she said. Edwards said in February 2002 she saw the tape again with Sun-Times pop music critic Jim DeRogatis, who had been sent the tape anonymously.

She said her relative appeared to be 13 or 14 in the tape, which includes scenes of intercourse, oral sex, and a man alleged to be Kelly urinating on the girl.

“You know your blood. I mean, she’s my [relative]. Her face, her hairdo. You just know your family,” Edwards said.

Edwards recounted how Kelly had launched her singing career, writing and producing her million-selling first album. After that project, she broke from Kelly, and she never again achieved that level of success, she admitted.

When her working relationship with Kelly was still intact, she introduced him to her young relative. “He liked her spirit. She was a very jolly person at the time. Very personable. Very light. She was my heart,” Edwards said.