Opinion: Who is Angel Bumpass?

CHATTANOOGA, TENN. – After the episode of A&E docu-series, the story of a local woman wrongfully accused has many people asking: Who is Angel Bumpass?

People are hearing her name from the first time; I am not. She was my classmate and a friend.

Angel Bumpass attended Central High School from 2009-2011. Our freshman year, we had homeroom and typing together.

In the docu-series, Angel referred to herself as a shy, quiet person. I can corroborate this was true. Angel would converse with others if they initiated the conversation but you couldn’t expect much. She was great listener.  Angel and I were not best friends but we were acquaintances.

The following year, we had sociology together and we sat next to each other every day. In our down time, we would talk about hair and makeup. I remember a conversation we  had about dying our hair. I was dying my dark brown and she was going blonde.

Blondes have more fun, right?

Angel and I had built friendship surrounded by honesty. I recall telling Angel about a new hairstyle I was getting.  When I came to class the next day, she stared at me for a while then she shared her honest opinion and we laughed.

Through the years, we kept in touch via social media specifically Instagram.

I would see her posting her various make-up looks  and would message her about her likes and dislikes of products before making purchases of my own.

I saw Angel turn from a shy but close classmate of mine, to a mother of two beautiful girls. After watching the docuseries, I, like many others found myself in disbelief about how her trial went.

My heart went out to her and her babies. Throughout the episode, if you listen carefully, all she cared about was her daughters.

Who is Angel Bumpass? A loving mother of two beautiful girls. A friend. A classmate. A lover of make-up. A former Chattanooga resident. A strong woman.