Prince left many of her writings on a computer hard drive, but O’Brien said she has not been able to bring herself to look at them. Watch video
Left to right, Phoebe Prince bullying case defendants Ashley Longe, Flannery Mullins and Sharon Velazquez are seen in Franklin-Hampshire Juvenile Court in Hadley on Thursday.HADLEY – The image of an impish, kind-hearted and meek Phoebe Prince terrified by the prospect of violence brought tears to the eyes of some of her aggressors Thursday as three more defendants in her bullying case came to resolution on the charges against them.
Sharon C. Velazquez, 17, Flannery Mullins, 18, and Ashley Longe, 18, all admitted to sufficient facts for a delinquency finding on various misdemeanor charges pertaining to their treatment of Prince, a freshman at South Hadley High School where they were all students. As a result, the charges against Mullins and Longe will be continued without a finding until they turn 19 and the case against Velazquez until her 18th birthday, at which time they will all be dismissed. A number of other charges against the three were dismissed as well Thursday as a result of their agreements. The maximum penalty for conviction on the delinquency charges would have been commitment to the Department of Youth Services.
As she did Wednesday, when defendants Sean Mulveyhill and Kayla Narey reached similar agreements in Hampshire Superior Court, Anne O’Brien, Prince’s mother, read compelling statements that painted a vivid picture of her 15-year-old daughter and the O’Brien has endured over losing her. Prince hanged herself on Jan. 14, 2010, in her South Hadley home following a period of intense bullying at school. Her suicide helped spark an international campaign to address the issue of bullying and made Prince an icon to many who have suffered that humiliation. In all, six former South Hadley High School students were charged in connection with Prince. Austin Renaud, who is charged with statutory rape for allegedly sleeping with the underage Prince is scheduled for a pretrial conference on July 6.
Velazquez and Mullins harassed Prince in the classrooms and hallways of the high school because of rumors that Prince was romantically involved with Renaud, Mullins’ boyfriend, according to prosecutor Steven E. Gagne. Longe taunted Prince at the urging of Narey’s boyfriend Mulveyhill, who had also been involved with Prince, Gagne said. Their actions, along with those of Narey and Mulveyhill, made life at school intolerable for Prince in the weeks leading up to her suicide, according O’Brien.
A distraught O’Brien stood up in court three times Thursday, addressing each of the defendant’s cases separately. Of Velazquez, she said, “She terrified my daughter by her anger and physical aggression. Phoebe walked between people in the hallway in case she jumped her.”
O’Brien compared Mullins’ threat that she wanted to fight Prince to her daughter’s embrace of another student who was having difficulties in school and at home.
“I’m so proud of my daughter,” she said. “It was a challenge for her to make it through each day without coming to harm.”
Longe, who admitted to harassing Prince and was charged with throwing a soft drink can at her from a car, was the only one of the defendants who took responsibility for her actions, O’Brien said, telling the court that the two of them met Wednesday at Longe’s request.
“She had been asking to meet with me,” O’Brien told Judge Daniel J. Swords. “It showed a lot of courage. I’m very satisfied that the accountability and genuine remorse I’d been asking for was offered to me by Ashley Longe.”
Both Longe and her mother wept while O’Brien spoke. Velazquez also cried when O’Brien read her statement during her disposition. According to the evidence presented by Gagne at the three court sessions, Prince lived in almost constant terror at school during the last week of her life. Velazquez assailed her in class in front of other students and Mullins’ threats her shook her up so much that Prince skipped classes and went to the school nurse. Longe made disparaging remarks about Prince outside the school auditorium and threw a can at her while Prince was walking home on the day of her suicide, Gagne said. When Longe called Mulveyhill to tell him what she had done, he replied, “Good job,” Gagne said.
Attorney Alfred Chamberland, who represented Mullins, took issue with the prosecution following her disposition. Saying that the defendants in the Prince case had been “overcharged,” Chamberland called the plea agreements an acknowledgment by the Northwestern District Attorney’s Office that felony indictments were not warranted. Chamberland also said his client has been “demonized” in the minds of the American public.
Former Northwester District Attorney Elizabeth D. Scheibel, who brought the charges last year, also issued a statement saying that her intention has been to achieve some accountability for Prince’s treatment at school.
“At this time, a measure of justice has been achieved through the conduct of a full investigation, appropriate charging and use of the court system,” she said. “While this case will fade from the public’s mind, it will never fade for Phoebe’s family and friends.”
In contrast to the depiction of the defendants’ actions was O’Brien’s description of her daughter, newly arrived from her native Ireland, as a vivacious, mischievous and intellectually curious girl who blanched at the thought of violence. Prince, O’Brien said, had a lovely mezzo soprano voice and a love for languages. O’Brien, an English teacher, broke down when she described how she would pick out novels for her daughter to read. Prince, she said, would encourage her friends to derail O’Brien’s classes by interjection questions about Margaret Thatcher and the band U2.
Prince left many of her writings on a computer hard drive, but O’Brien said she has not been able to bring herself to look at them.
“To play them would bring unbearable memories,” she said.
Gone, too, are the summer excursions to French village that she enjoyed with her daughter.
“This summer I’ll be negotiating with a stone-cutter to design and cut a Celtic headstone for Phoebe’s grave,” she said.
O’Brien told the court that she had her daughter cremated but had not yet buried her remains because she is waiting for peace. O’Brien told the court she is waiting in vain.
“There will be no peace,” she said. “I’ll return home and bury my daughter.”