Its an age-old story: Two women fight over the same man.
This story, which involves a Facebook feud, a high-speed car chase and a 3-year-old, however has very tragic consequences. In the end one woman (not a party to the dispute) is dead. Another woman is in critical condition in hospital and a third woman is in jail facing multiple felony charges.
Torrie Lynn Emery, 23, of Pontiac, Michigan was ordered held without bond by 50th District Judge Preston Thomas on July 24, 2010. She is charged with second-degree murder, assault with intent to commit great bodily harm and child abuse.
Torrie Lynn Emery and 20-year-old Danielle Booth had been feuding over a 23-year-old unnamed man who is incarcerated in a Michigan prison. Their dispute was at times carried on through the online service Facebook. Police said Booth had filed a threatening and harassing report against Emery.
On Wednesday, July 21st Emery spotted Booth in a car driven by her friend Alesha Abernathy, 21. An argument ensued and Booth and Abernathy drove off with Emery chasing them. Emery also had her 3-year-old daughter in her car. According to reports Emery rammed the other car during a high-speed chase which at times reached 100 mph. A frantic Danielle Booth was on the phone with the police during the chase.
Police Det. Paul McDougal, who was in an unmarked squad car, saw both vehicles rush by at speeds approaching 100 mph but was unable to catch them before the car in which the two girls were driving ran a red light at the corner of Woodward Avenue and Rapid Street and plowed into a dump truck, knocking it onto its side.
Alesha Abernathy died as a result of the impact. Danielle Booth was critically injured and taken to POH Regional Medical Center in Pontiac. Torrie Emery, her 3-year-old daughter and the truck driver were not injured.
"It's unbelievable," Pontiac police Chief Valard S. Gross told The Associated Press as he described the escalating dispute that ended with Wednesday's deadly crash. "It's just crazy."
"How can you get that angry or that jealous, really, that you jeopardize the life of your 3-year-old?" Gross asked. "One person's stupidity, and look at the repercussions. It's just a ripple effect."
Torrie Emery’s friends and family members packed the courtroom Friday and shed tears during the brief proceeding. Emery struggled to speak over sobs and sighs during the video arraignment. At one point, Thomas had to ask Emery to speak up.
With tears in her eyes and a strain on her voice, Emery said, “I didn’t mean to kill nobody”
Immediately following the court appearance, Emery’s friends and family gathered outside and attempted to console her mother, Tracy Emery.
“She wasn’t trying to kill anybody,” Tracy Emery screamed while sitting in front of the courthouse. “Please have mercy on her, Lord.”
“I’m not asking that she don’t pay for her mistakes,” Tracy Emery said. “She made a mistake, but her intentions were not to kill nobody. Her intentions were to fight.
According to Sue Edmonds of Oakland County Pre-trial Services, Torrie Emery is bipolar and she has a history of failing to appear in court and violating probation.
