In a harrowing incident, a 15-year-old girl managed to escape from a dangerous situation after being kidnapped and enduring a horrific attack. Mary Vincent, who had run away from home and was hitchhiking to her granddad’s house, accepted a ride from Lawrence Singleton, a former merchant seaman, in Modesto, California.
Singleton, aged 51, assaulted Mary, rendering her unconscious, before sexually assaulting her and severing both her arms with a hatchet. He then abandoned her in a ravine, presuming she would die. Miraculously, Mary stopped the bleeding by packing dirt into her wounds and crawled out of the ravine to seek help.
After being rescued and receiving medical treatment, Mary cooperated with law enforcement in identifying her abuser. Singleton was arrested, tried, and found guilty of heinous crimes, including attempted murder, mayhem, kidnapping, and multiple counts of sexual assault. Despite being sentenced to 14 years in prison, he was released after serving only eight years.
Following his release, protests ensued, and Singleton was compelled to live in a trailer on prison grounds. Tragically, he went on to commit another crime in Tampa, Florida, resulting in the death of Roxanne Hayes in 1997. Singleton was subsequently sentenced to death but passed away in prison in 2001 due to cancer.
Mary Vincent, reflecting on the events, expressed her devastation at the recurrence of violence, emphasizing the need for a reevaluation of the justice system to prevent such tragedies from happening again.
