Two more teenagers charged in connection with Phoebe Prince's suicide were sentenced today to probation and community service, after another emotional statement from Prince's mother, who said Prince was harassed until school became intolerable.
“Phoebe soldiered on, struggling to get through the day, hoping the next one to be better,” Anne O'Brien said in Franklin-Hampshire Juvenile Court. “Phoebe tried to be strong, but sometimes all people want to do is break you.”
Sharon Velazquez, 17, admitted to sufficient facts on a criminal harassment charge and Flannery Mullins, 18, admitted to sufficient facts on a civil rights violation and disturbing an assembly.
Velazquez will be on probation until her 18th birthday, Mullins will be on probation until she turns 19.
Prince, a 15-year-old Irish immigrant, killed herself in January 2010 at her family’s South Hadley home after being bullied by other students at the town’s high school. The case made international headlines and helped spark a national debate on the problem of school bullying.
Prosecutors said Velazquez in early January 2010 approached Prince in the hall and loudly called her a disparaging term. Later in the day, in the cafeteria, she ordered Prince to "stay away from Flannery Mullins's boyfriend." Mullins's boyfriend at the time was Austin Renaud, another defendant in the Prince case.
"Phoebe was emotionally upset by the encounter," First Assistant District Attorney Steven Gagne said.
Gagne said Velazquez also “verbally berated” Prince in Latin class, using a variety of disparaging names. In a soft voice, Velazquez admitted that what the prosecutor said was true.
In her victim impact statement, O'Brien recalled touching moments from her daughter's past and described the loss she had suffered. She described Prince as “a sensitive and gentle girl,” who “feared any form of aggression.” She said Velazquez “terrified my daughter with her anger. She asked her to leave her alone, but she would not.”
O’Brien said Prince became so frightened of Velazquez that she would walk between two people in the hall, so she would feel protected. She said Velazquez's anger and aggression would have frightened her as an adult, and that she could “only imagine the terror she instilled in Phoebe.”
She said she hoped Velazquez would reflect upon the seriousness of what she had done, but expressed doubt that Velazquez would. After O’Brien finished her statement, Velazquez began to gently cry, continuing for 20 seconds or so in a still courtroom.
Gagne said that in January 2010, Mullins heard rumors that Renaud, her boyfriend at the time, had had some kind of romantic relationship with Prince. Mullins told students in gym class that “someone ought to kick [Prince's] ass," the prosecutor said.
Mullins was later overheard on several occasions disparaging Prince in front of other students, with remarks that were at times vulgar. She also approached Prince in a loud and aggressive way several times. Gagne said word spread quickly through the school that Mullins was angry and wanted to fight Prince.
“Phoebe Prince became very fearful she would be physically attacked,” Gagne said.
Prince would skip class and report to the school nurse to avoid any confrontation, Gagne said.
“Phoebe had as much right as Flannery Mullins to be in school,” O'Brien said, glaring across the courtroom at Mullins during her statement. “But school for Phoebe became intolerable.”
She said Mullins had followed Prince into the bathroom, down the halls, and into classrooms, making Prince live in constant fear.
O’Brien recalled a sketch that Prince had drawn on a folder, depicting a candle with a flame. Underneath, she wrote, "There is always a light." As O’Brien recalled the drawing, she began to cry and did not speak for several seconds.
Alfred Chamberland, Mullins's defense attorney, read a statement outside the courthouse saying that the district attorney's office had brought excessive charges against his client and demonized her and the other defendants.
He said the plea was "an acknowledgment by the Northwestern district attorney’s office that these matters were overcharged and that the former administration brought felony indictments in cases which did not call for such,” he said. "By doing so, the Commonwealth unnecessarily exposed my client and the other juveniles in this case to unfair and harsh national and international media scrutiny.”
Two other teenagers were sentenced Wednesday to probation after an emotional hearing in which Prince's mother condemned one of them, saying his relationship with her daughter was "predatory" and his betrayal of her daughter had broken her spirit, the Globe reportsthis morning.
“Phoebe soldiered on, struggling to get through the day, hoping the next one to be better,” Anne O'Brien said in Franklin-Hampshire Juvenile Court. “Phoebe tried to be strong, but sometimes all people want to do is break you.”
Sharon Velazquez, 17, admitted to sufficient facts on a criminal harassment charge and Flannery Mullins, 18, admitted to sufficient facts on a civil rights violation and disturbing an assembly.
Velazquez will be on probation until her 18th birthday, Mullins will be on probation until she turns 19.
Prince, a 15-year-old Irish immigrant, killed herself in January 2010 at her family’s South Hadley home after being bullied by other students at the town’s high school. The case made international headlines and helped spark a national debate on the problem of school bullying.
Prosecutors said Velazquez in early January 2010 approached Prince in the hall and loudly called her a disparaging term. Later in the day, in the cafeteria, she ordered Prince to "stay away from Flannery Mullins's boyfriend." Mullins's boyfriend at the time was Austin Renaud, another defendant in the Prince case.
"Phoebe was emotionally upset by the encounter," First Assistant District Attorney Steven Gagne said.
Gagne said Velazquez also “verbally berated” Prince in Latin class, using a variety of disparaging names. In a soft voice, Velazquez admitted that what the prosecutor said was true.
In her victim impact statement, O'Brien recalled touching moments from her daughter's past and described the loss she had suffered. She described Prince as “a sensitive and gentle girl,” who “feared any form of aggression.” She said Velazquez “terrified my daughter with her anger. She asked her to leave her alone, but she would not.”
O’Brien said Prince became so frightened of Velazquez that she would walk between two people in the hall, so she would feel protected. She said Velazquez's anger and aggression would have frightened her as an adult, and that she could “only imagine the terror she instilled in Phoebe.”
She said she hoped Velazquez would reflect upon the seriousness of what she had done, but expressed doubt that Velazquez would. After O’Brien finished her statement, Velazquez began to gently cry, continuing for 20 seconds or so in a still courtroom.
Gagne said that in January 2010, Mullins heard rumors that Renaud, her boyfriend at the time, had had some kind of romantic relationship with Prince. Mullins told students in gym class that “someone ought to kick [Prince's] ass," the prosecutor said.
Mullins was later overheard on several occasions disparaging Prince in front of other students, with remarks that were at times vulgar. She also approached Prince in a loud and aggressive way several times. Gagne said word spread quickly through the school that Mullins was angry and wanted to fight Prince.
“Phoebe Prince became very fearful she would be physically attacked,” Gagne said.
Prince would skip class and report to the school nurse to avoid any confrontation, Gagne said.
“Phoebe had as much right as Flannery Mullins to be in school,” O'Brien said, glaring across the courtroom at Mullins during her statement. “But school for Phoebe became intolerable.”
She said Mullins had followed Prince into the bathroom, down the halls, and into classrooms, making Prince live in constant fear.
O’Brien recalled a sketch that Prince had drawn on a folder, depicting a candle with a flame. Underneath, she wrote, "There is always a light." As O’Brien recalled the drawing, she began to cry and did not speak for several seconds.
He said the plea was "an acknowledgment by the Northwestern district attorney’s office that these matters were overcharged and that the former administration brought felony indictments in cases which did not call for such,” he said. "By doing so, the Commonwealth unnecessarily exposed my client and the other juveniles in this case to unfair and harsh national and international media scrutiny.”
Two other teenagers were sentenced Wednesday to probation after an emotional hearing in which Prince's mother condemned one of them, saying his relationship with her daughter was "predatory" and his betrayal of her daughter had broken her spirit, the Globe reportsthis morning.
