Quenette Shehane

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Quenette Shehane

Quenette Shehane (born 1955; died December 20, 1976) was a student at Birmingham-Southern College who was abducted, raped and killed by three men. She was survived by her parents, Edward and Miriam Shehane of Clio, and her sister Sonya.

Shehane went to the U-Tote-Em convenience store near BSC's campus to purchase salad dressing for a cookout at her boyfriend's fraternity house. She was forced into her car, taken to the Hooper City neighborhood, then raped and killed by Wallace Norrell Thomas, Edward Bernard Neal and Jerry Lee Jones, all students at Daniel Payne College.

Thomas was executed by the State of Alabama in 1990. Neal was sentenced to life without parole. Jones, who testified against his cohorts, had his death sentence commuted to life imprisonment. His first parole hearing was held on August 4, 2008. The Alabama Board of Pardons and Paroles unanimously denied Jones' parole in 2008 and 2013.

In 1982 Miriam Shehane founded the "Victims of Crime and Leniency" (VOCAL) advocacy group in Montgomery. She remains the executive director. Quenette's classmates and friends established the Quenette Shehane Scholarship at Birmingham-Southern in 1990.

References

  • Bright, Taylor (December 2001) "'Can you imagine what that does to a mother?'" Execution of Justice series. Birmingham Post-Herald
  • Chandler, Kim (August 4, 2008) "Alabama board denies parole for man who killed Birmingham-Southern student." The Birmingham News
  • Stein, Kelsey (September 26, 2013) "Parole request denied for man convicted in 1976 slaying of Birmingham-Southern College graduate, 21." The Birmingham News
  • Robinson, Carol (May 15, 2015) "'Fatal Errand': Brutal rape, murder of Birmingham-Southern coed featured on Paula Zahn show." The Birmingham News