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Ex-American Idol contestant records Petit tribute

Monday, January 17, 2011

By Luther Turmelle, North Bureau Chief, lturmelle@nhregister.com
@lutherturmelle / @nhregister

A former American Idol contestant’s latest release includes a song that is not only tribute to Jennifer Hawke Petit and her daughters, Hayley and Michaela, but will also benefit the foundation that was started in their memory.

Noel Turner’s song “Wherever You Are” was released over the weekend, and 10 percent of the proceeds from the sale of 19-year-old singer’s song will benefit the Petit Family Foundation. The foundation was started by Dr. William Petit in the aftermath of the 2007 home invasion in Cheshire that killed his wife and daughters.

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Turner, who appeared in the 2010 season of American Idol, said in a statement released by the foundation that the song “is my feeble attempt to express the horror anger and devastation that I and countless others experienced upon hearing of the events that occurred to the family of Dr. William Petit in 2007.”

“Never before had I been so inspired to write as I was that evening,” Turner said. “I feel blessed that this song has given me the opportunity to raise awareness of violent crime in this country and also to help benefit the foundation that Dr. Petit has established in memory of his wife and daughters.”

The song’s lyrics include the chorus, “Honey, wherever you are, I hope you're fine, I can’t stop cryin.” Click here to listen to a preview of the song, which is available on the Itunes, Amazon and CDBaby web sites.

This is not the first time that a song has been written in memory of the three murdered women. Just five days after the murders occurred, a Shelton songwriter, Dan Sweetman, wrote “When Angels Cry,” a song that Fairfield native Christine Yandell recorded in Aug. 2007.




Call Luther Turmelle at 203-789-5706.

URL: http://www.nhregister.com/articles/2011/01/17/news/metro/doc4d348446ebbc7410859305.prt

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