Many women have found themselves in similar situations with overzealous a-holes, but in this story, "trying to holler" goes too far.
Susan Jacobson | [Orlando Sentinel]
May 23, 2008
Mildred Beaubrun and two girlfriends had just ended a night of partying at Club Firestone early Monday when they stopped at a 7-Eleven on Colonial Drive for some gas and something to drink.
Three or four men in a silver or gray Chevrolet HHR also stopped at the store and followed the young women when they pulled away in a dark-blue Nissan Maxima about 3 a.m.
"Hey, baby, what's your phone number?" they called out as the cars traveled west through Orlando.
Then the banter grew more aggressive. The men threw a T-shirt, then an AA battery, at the Nissan. One of the women threw a broken cell-phone charger back. At one point, the HHR swerved into the Nissan's lane and tried to run the car off the road.
When the Nissan turned north on John Young Parkway, the HHR followed. Then, at Princeton Street, a shot rang out. Shrapnel flew as the bullet pierced the door and struck 18-year-old Beaubrun, who was sitting in the back seat.
Since the shooting, which damaged her spine and lung, Beaubrun has been unconscious at Orlando Regional Medical Center. She had surgery to remove part of her lung. No one is sure that she'll wake up, let alone walk again.
Since the shooting, which damaged her spine and lung, Beaubrun has been unconscious at Orlando Regional Medical Center. She had surgery to remove part of her lung. No one is sure that she'll wake up, let alone walk again.
"I want them to catch these people who did that to my daughter," said Beaubrun's mother, Mireille Jeanlouis, her eyes red-rimmed from crying and lack of sleep. "I don't want them to do that to someone else."
Police have pieced together what happened early Monday from the two young women who went clubbing with Beaubrun on Sunday night. The men in the car have not been found.
Looking for suspects
On Thursday, police released sketches of two suspects who were riding in the front seat of the HHR. One or two more men sat in back, but the teens did not get a good-enough look for a description.
Through the week, Beaubrun's family has been keeping a near-24-hour vigil at her bedside in an intensive-care unit. Aunts, uncles and cousins have been streaming in from Naples, Beaubrun's hometown, Atlanta and as far away as California. Her grandmother barely leaves her room.
Jeanlouis and Beaubrun's aunt, Margaret Francis, recalled happier times Thursday. They described Beaubrun as an outgoing, generous young woman who works as a Winn-Dixie cashier, loves to write poetry and go shopping and dreams of becoming a nurse.
"She said, 'Mommy, I like to help people,' " Jeanlouis said as she held Mildred's Mickey Mouse ring, still inside a plastic emergency-room pouch.
'A 50-50 chance'
Now her daughter's survival is in doubt.
"It's a 50-50 chance," Francis said.
Orlando police Detective Mike Moreschi, who is investigating the case, said the shooting ranks high on the list of cold, cowardly crimes he has seen.
"These girls didn't pose a threat" to the men, Moreschi said. "If their goal was to scare them, they did that without firing a gun. It was just totally senseless."
Her family members say they believe Beaubrun can feel their love and support and is drawing on that strength to recover.
"She's going to make it," Francis said. "She's a fighter."
