"I guess I was born, naturally born, born bad. Born bad, it's such as sin . . . I'll never be the same again. I'm naturally born to be, bad as a girl can be. . . ."
When I read the initial report on today's case, it reminded me of those lyrics, which were sung by actress Juliette Lewis in the Oliver Stone film Natural Born Killers. While this case does not come close to the measure of crimes committed by Juliette's fictional character, Mallory Knox, they seem to share a similar attitude.
April 30th started out as a typical day for 81-year-old Indianapolis resident Evelyn Page (photo here), who, along with three young children--perhaps grandchildren, police have yet to specify--got into her car and headed out for a trip to the local drug store. Unfortunately for Evelyn, her day quickly took a very dramatic and ultimately painful twist.
Shortly after turning onto South Meridian Street, Evelyn was surprised when another vehicle, driven by 19-year-old Jessica Vasquez, swerved in front of her and forced her to bring her vehicle to a stop.
"She said I was going too slow," Evelyn later said in an interview with WTHR.com. "She said, 'You put me in jeopardy' because she had to stop real quick. I thought she was just going to get out and bawl me out, but she reached in and popped me a good one. I imagine she's been eating spinach. I saw stars."
When Evelyn attempted to get out of her car to seek help, Vasquez continued to assault the stunned grandmother.
"She either shoved me or hit me and I fell backwards, and I landed on my rear and my leg was underneath me, and it crunched and--oh--I tried to get up, and I could tell them bones were touching [and] I knew I couldn't."
Onlookers rushed to help Evelyn, left lying in the median, as Vasquez sped off in her car. After paramedics arrived on the scene, Evelyn was transported to a local hospital, where doctors discovered her leg was broken in 14 places. As a result of her injuries, doctors had to perform replacement surgery on her left knee.
The granny-beater might have managed a clean getaway were it not for a Good Samaritan who had managed to jot down her license plate number. Police later used that number to track Vasquez down and arrest her for aggravated battery.
"This is a crime that is outrageous, something that we don't normally see," Police Detective Wendall Daniel told Upi.com. "We don't normally see a female, 19 years old, beating an 81-year-old woman."
Theindychannel.com later caught up with Vasquez as authorities were leading her into the police station. According to the Web site, a belligerent Vasquez gave them a "profanity-laced" interview, during which time she stuck out her tongue (video still here) and said, "I don't have anything to explain to you."
On Friday, police announced that Vasquez was also the prime suspect in the April 25th attempted robbery of a Walgreens drugstore at Washington and LaSalle Streets. That investigation is ongoing.
"I felt sorry for her," Evelyn said of Vasquez in an interview with WTHR.com. "You could tell something was wrong with her. She's not a lady. Kind of brings us down, don't it?"
Vasquez is in jail under a $100,000 bond.
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