Mother of 8-year-old girl who was raped, murdered in 1988 wants to be 'the last face' the accused killer sees

The Indiana mother of an 8-year-old girl who was raped and murdered in 1988 would like to see the accused killer get the death penalty and hopes to be the one "pushing the button."

The mother of April Tinsley had waited 30 years for an arrest when John Miller was taken into custody on Sunday. Miller was charged with murder and child molestation on Wednesday, and is being held without bond.

"It was like you got that chill feel that goes from the top of your head down to your toes," Janet Tinsley told NBC in Fort Wayne on Wednesday.

A decision has not been made whether to pursue the death penalty against Miller, but the victim's mother says she would not be against it.

“If he does get the electric chair or the gas chamber or whatever, I'm going to be there and I'm going to be pushing the button,” Janet Tinsley told the Journal Gazette. “I want to be the last face he sees.”

"If he gets the death penalty, they should let her be the one that gets to pull the switch," local resident Sally Berger told WNDU.

April's body was found in a ditch 20 miles from where she lived in Fort Wayne three days after she disappeared.

Investigators struggled for leads in the case for decades, with the killer taunting them with notes over the years. "I kill 8-year-old April M Tinsley did you find her other shoe haha I will kill again," read one message on a barn door.

Miller's name was not on a list of suspects that was put together after April's murder, but authorities say they were eventually able to tie him to April's murder with DNA evidence.

Janet Tinsley says she does not know Miller, who made a court appearance in Fort Wayne on Thursday.

“Right now, I'm just numb,” she told the Journal Gazette.