Sharon Chanon Velazquez Strikes Plea Deal In Phoebe Prince Bullying Case

HARTFORD, Conn. -- One of six teens charged in the notorious Massachusetts bullying case of a 15-year-old Irish immigrant who committed suicide has struck a plea agreement with prosecutors, according to new court documents.

If accepted by a judge, 17-year-old Sharon Chanon Velazquez's plea deal would be the first criminal case resolved in connection with South Hadley High School freshman Phoebe Prince's suicide.

Prosecutors said Tuesday in a written statement that they expect "significant developments in one or more of the cases," though they would not discuss Velazquez's potential plea deal or the status of discussions with the other defendants' attorneys.

Prince hanged herself in January 2010 in her family's apartment after what prosecutors call a relentless campaign of bullying by other students that included slurs about her Irish heritage, insults on Facebook and threats to beat her up.

Velazquez and four other teens were charged two months after her death with offenses connected to the alleged bullying, and a sixth teen was charged with statutory rape for allegedly having sexual contact with the underage girl.

All have pleaded not guilty.

Prince's death was among several teen suicides nationwide attributed to bullying, and her experiences were cited in Massachusetts and nationwide as legislatures considered or approved new laws cracking down on the harassment.

Velazquez and two other teenage girls are charged in Franklin-Hampshire Juvenile Court with stalking, criminal harassment and violation of Prince's civil rights. The other three teens were older when they were charged, and their cases are pending in nearby Hampshire Superior Court.

Terms of the 17-year-old Velazquez's potential plea deal were not disclosed in the motion filed Tuesday in juvenile court, where her attorney and prosecutors are scheduled to present it to a judge for consideration on May 5.

Messages left Tuesday for her attorney were not immediately returned.

According to prosecutors, Velazquez and two friends, Flannery Mullins and Ashley Longe, were angry over Prince's brief relationship with Austin Renaud, Mullins' on-and-off boyfriend.

Renaud and another teen, Sean Mulveyhill, face statutory rape charges for allegedly having sexual contact with Prince. Mulveyhill and his ex-girlfriend, Kayla Narey, also face the same civil rights charge levied against Longe, Velazquez and Mullins.

Longe and Mullins are scheduled to appear in juvenile court a few hours after Velazquez on May 5.

Narey is scheduled to appear May 4 for a status hearing in Hampshire Superior Court. Mulveyhill is on the docket one day later, and Renaud returns to court in July.

Renaud's lawyer, Terrence Dunphy, said Tuesday he has not been in plea talks with prosecutors.

"My client has been unable to resolve his matters," Dunphy said, declining to comment on Velazquez's agreement.

A message was left for Prince's family attorney, and her aunt, Eileen Prince of Springfield, declined to comment when reached Tuesday by The Associated Press.

Messages left Tuesday for the other teens' attorneys also were not immediately returned.

Velazquez was described by prosecutors as showing "a pattern of assaultive conduct" toward Phoebe that included crude insults and threats of violence, including one for which she served a one-day school suspension.

Longe is charged with yelling crude comments, such as "Irish whore" and "stupid slut," at Prince in the school library a few hours before her suicide. Longe also threw an aluminum can at Prince and yelled insults again as the freshman walked home that afternoon, authorities said in court records.

The court records accuse Mullins of threatening to beat up Prince, cornering her in a school bathroom, repeatedly calling her an "Irish slut" and posting demeaning comments about her on Facebook.

In addition to the charges they face in public juvenile court proceedings, prosecutors said Longe, Mullins and Velazquez also face separate delinquency cases that list the same alleged offenses plus criminal harassment charges. Longe also is charged under delinquency statutes with assault, according to court records and prosecutors.

Had the teens been charged only under delinquency laws and not as youthful offenders, their identities would have been confidential.

___

Associated Press writer Denise Lavoie in Boston contributed to this report.

Comments

[ABACADABRA RABBIT]

03:09 AM on 05/07/2011

Maybe people should bully them to death. The only consequence is probation.

Send them to TJ for some spiked drinks and HIV...

[xanxia]

02:35 AM on 04/29/2011

They need to make an example of these girls. They need to seriously punish bullies. They need to expel any student caught bullying others.
I remember growing up when I felt safe going to school. This place is suppose to nurture & educate. Now children with big dreams get bullied to death.

[SaraSH]

02:54 AM on 04/29/2011

LOL

No such things will happen in a country that is BUILT on law suits.

[GirlInNYC]

07:23 AM on 04/28/2011

Can blacks get reparations now? I mean prosecuting people for teasing someone who decides then to off themselves on their own accord? Blacks have endured much greater 'bullying' called RACISM for centuries. Oh, but I guess that we are supposed to get over it and just feel sorry for weak Caucasians who can't handle a little teasing. Noted.

[DWacker]

12:15 AM on 04/29/2011

Correct - get over it. If you get the reparations, and things stayed the same for you, what would the excuse be then?

[Leto II]

01:54 AM on 05/03/2011

Correct - get over it. Here's a news flash....Africans aren't the only race in the history of the world to be enslaved. Blacks do not have a patent on the word 'slavery'. Unfortunately, slavery is a stain on every culture's history at some point. The difference is, other cultures have gotten over it and moved on.

[xanxia]

02:40 AM on 04/29/2011

Argh.................

[SaraSH]

03:06 AM on 04/28/2011

Congratulations America. This bratty raising culture is creating bullys like NO OTHER and wimps like NO OTHER...isn't that remarkable?!!! When I grew up, there was something called discipline. We wore uniforms, went to uni gender schools and had something called CONDUCT in our GPA. We were dead scared of our parents, neighbors, teachers, u name it. We had to behave, We had to SHUT UP and listen. Oh, and we hated it, as kids always do, they STILL hate everything abt their lives, that's the NATURE of teenagers in case you haven't noticed.

Look around you. Who are the adult mental cases? It aint any of us. It's the new generation, all hooked up on SSRIs, Pot and Alcohol, and of course ora*l sex and in*tercourse ( things we didn't even know much about before graduating high school).

Now, bring it on. As any other time I criticize the messed up modern culture, pls make me even more sure abt how deranged you must be for finding ANY problem with the BITTER facts in my post.

[DWacker]

02:03 AM on 04/29/2011

Truth

[LisaDi]

05:34 PM on 04/27/2011

For those that believe that it is Phoebe Prince fault as well as that of HER MOTHER are beyond mean. First...Phoebe was BULLIED....and RAPED. Second, parents can do as much as they want, as long as the child is cooperative. Third, if you go to the local police with a complaint, you NEED THE SCHOOL'S SUPPORT, not to mention proper laws in place to press charges. Bully's are the ones with SELF CONFIDENCE ISSUES....they destroy others to Validate their existence. Being a teenager is HARD, being a teenager in a new COUNTRY is EXCRUCIATING... Phoebe was isolated from her friends and all that she was used to.... She was picked on relentlessly, being called names and having object thrown at her. My question is where were the teachers/school administrators...were they encouraging these children's behaviors. They are as much responsible as the students.....however, if you do not have laws in place that protect ALL STUDENTS from abuse...it becomes a mute point.

[an]

08:39 PM on 04/27/2011

i agree with most of what you are saying besides the point that the teaches must also be at fault to an equal extent as the students. i'm not saying they share none of the blame, but not to the same extent as the actual bullies.

i honestly don't know what the teachers knew.

if they knew what was going on, and didn't try to stop it, then indeed they are guilty to some extent. but if they didn't there is no way to blame them.

[k1dork]

05:33 PM on 04/27/2011

I have a question for you guys. I'm advocating for an anti-bullying strategy in which bullies and bullied students are made to take a martial arts class in school in order to instill in them the self confidence and discipline that martial arts typically produce. Is anyone familiar with the movie "Only the Strong"? I got the idea from that movie, in which bad kids were made to attend a school sponsored martial arts class in which they learned discipline through the rigorous training. From MY experience, marital arts is the best way to instill self confidence in the bullied and self discipline into bullies. What do you guys think?

[LilacFields]

06:02 PM on 04/27/2011

I do understand your point and, yes, martial arts can indeed instill both confidence and an awareness of a power that should not be used except in extremis -- but for that to really work on a broader scale, you would have to change the entire culture / society.
It doesn't work in isolation, except for those already receptive to such an attitude.

[k1dork]

06:07 PM on 04/27/2011

I think it could work in our society. It would be a class period like PE. School administrators would identify bullied kids and bullies and they would attend the class. Doesn't seem that difficult to implement in my opinion.

[an]

08:14 PM on 04/27/2011

i am not opposed to children playing sports or taking martial arts, or doing any kind of extra-curricular activity. such activity is often good for children.

but we are no longer living in feudal japan. teaching children how to fight will not solve all their problems, and will not stop bullying. for one thing different children have both a different ability at and a different inclination for fighting.

[k1dork]

08:53 PM on 04/27/2011

I believe that it would be a great help in alleviating bullying. I have seen martial arts work time and time again. Maybe if you watched boxing or followed MMA, you would know that there are MANY fighters who credit martial arts with turning their lives around. Not the cure all, but I personally think it's the best method.
You don't have to be the best fighter, but the confidence that knowing a little self defense gives is awesome.

[miph6448]

04:23 PM on 04/27/2011

What would make kids nowadays be so cruel, I wonder? Sure, bullying always exists since whenever, but it seems to bring more deaths lately. The world around them, their parents, the adults' behaviors must be the examples for kids to think bullying is an OK thing to do. Another factor, there is no support system for the bullied kids, people are so detached and so isolated in their own world now, they have no place to turn to, even school authorities and their loved ones.

[k1dork]

04:44 PM on 04/27/2011

Maybe the instant gratification society we live in is creating kids who think their lives are ruined when they encounter discrepancies such as bullying. I'm not blaming the victim, but I think parents these days more than ever need to instill self confidence in their children.

[an]

05:08 PM on 04/27/2011

no, you have consistently blamed the victim and her parents all over this board - which i might add is a very bizarre stance to say the least...

[kerry1962]

08:24 PM on 04/27/2011

My son, who you remember from this morning's posts, withdrew from school today due to years of homophobia. This is who he is - confidence wise. Came out at 12. Attended Harvard Model Congress every year - no small feat. Testified before the NY State Congress concerning DASA. Was chosen to attend a National Youth Forum on National Security in DC. At that conference was elected POTUS by his peers to take them through a simulated national security crisis, even though some at the conference thought it would be a national security crisis to have a Gay president. My son doesn't lack confidence. In fact, he had enough confidence to say, "Enough is enough. I want my life back."

[p pitstop]

04:13 PM on 04/27/2011

Not nearly as disturbing, but disturbing nonetheless, is the airbrushing on this girl's face in the AP photo. She looks like something out of the horror film "Dolls." The obvious question is, "Why?" Need we spare her the embarrassment of a face full of zits while she's on trial for manslaughter (or whatever the charge)?

[k1dork]

03:06 PM on 04/27/2011

The de@th penalty is in order to show HIGH SCHOOL KIDS that they need to behave like ADULTS!

[rambrad1]

02:52 PM on 04/27/2011

LiberalScoop Become a fan (218) Unfan (218)
10 hours ago (4:41 AM) Children are NOT gaining the example for terrorizin­g defenseles­s classmates from Congress. Politics has NOTHING to do with this story. This story has NOTHING to do with politics. ZERO.



FHP Become a fan (35) Unfan (35)
8 hours ago (6:25 AM) Most teens barely know what or who the congress is.
Stop trying to blame someone else. How about taking a closer look at the parents.

You people are missing the point. I never said that these kids were ever influenced by any one in politics. That would be rediculous. I'm just saying take a look at the tone being set by our own leaders. Just look at the birthers. They know what they're saying is false but they say it anyway. Its the same thing. And some of these people think we're going to elect them president. Its the direction this country seems to be taking. There's more nastiness out there than ever. I'm not saying that her parents are tea partiers. I dont know enough to say that. For all I know, her parents may have done everything possible to curb her behavior. Some kids just turn out to be d0ucheb@gs despite the parents best efforts. But I have no doubt that some of this garbage does filter down through the adults to the kids.

[bobncar]

02:50 PM on 04/27/2011

Do any of these kids have parents? This is the future ?

[k1dork]

03:01 PM on 04/27/2011

Exactly! Thank you! Where were the parents of the bullied girl? They failed her in my opinion. Where were the parents of the bullies? They failed them in my opinion. These are high school KIDS we're talking about. They can hardly be expected to have it all figured out.

[an]

03:40 PM on 04/27/2011

its a fallacy to believe parents are always at fault with every problem a child has. bullied children often hide the fact that they are bullied from their parents. i was bullied, and i never told my parents.

children, teens in particular, are their own people. they make their own decisions, and have their own actions.

caring parents have criminal children. caring parents have children who are bullied. to think otherwise is very naive.

[axt113]

03:52 PM on 04/27/2011

The bullies should still be publicly gutted

[OrwellianOne]

02:38 PM on 04/27/2011

I'm sitting here wondering why the parents of the bullied girl didn't contact the local authorities if the school wasn't doing anything.

Did they not believe it was that serious? Are they lazy? Bad parents? Are they too responsible here?

[nancestef]

02:43 PM on 04/27/2011

Mr. Prince was in Ireland, but Mrs. Prince had gone to the school several times to address the issue.

[OrwellianOne]

02:47 PM on 04/27/2011

I said why didn't she contact the local authorities? As in, the police department.

[an]

03:47 PM on 04/27/2011

do you know for a fact that her parents even knew she was being bullied, or the extent of the problem?

[GoldsteinD]

02:36 PM on 04/27/2011

look at the expression on her face. scary

[OrwellianOne]

02:37 PM on 04/27/2011

Oh hey another comment about how she looks, these are such interesting posts to read.

Because you know, you just KNOW you can tell so much about a person by how they look.

[GoldsteinD]

02:45 PM on 04/27/2011

not on how they look but more so what non-verbal "expression"s communicate

[k1dork]

02:40 PM on 04/27/2011

I know. She is a scared kid.

[nancestef]

02:44 PM on 04/27/2011

Your compassion is mis-placed. This bullying was carried out relentlessly.

[LolaGetz]

02:56 PM on 04/27/2011

I should hope she is. It's about time. Maybe she'll learn some compassion for other people and turn her life around.

[satanlite]

02:29 PM on 04/27/2011

This person performed these actions because she could get away with it.
 
In the future, she'll find herself in situtations where she can get away with more behavior similar to this. Expect to see her in the news again.

[brownfrown]

02:22 PM on 04/27/2011

Bunch of angels on here throwing stones?

[satanlite]

02:29 PM on 04/27/2011

I am indeed angelic. Thank you.