Tyrone N. Butts
APE Reporter
52
'Nobody deserves to die like that'
http://www.tennessean.com/local/archives/0...ent_ID=45285059
Tracy Owen was a vivacious, feisty, bighearted woman --but one who was on a downward spiral as she struggled with addiction and a failed relationship, family members said.
As the 32-year-old house cleaner's personal life suffered, she distanced herself from her family,
nd some siblings said they hadn't seen her in years.
Her brother, David Owen, was the closest to her. He said yesterday that he last saw his sister about four weeks ago when he ran into her at a g
as
station on Murfreesboro Pike. When he saw her, he said, he didn't realize his sister was in the late stages of pregnancy.
The next time
he heard of his sister was Monday after she was shot five times and killed early that morning on Plus Park Boulevard near Murfreesboro Pike near Interstate 24. Police said two men charged in her death told police they killed the woman because they had hit her with their pickup truck and were afraid they would get in trouble.
Owen's family members said the killing had left them with rage, sadness and many unanswered questions.
''Everybody has their problems, but no matter what was going on with her, nobody deserves to die like that,'' said David Owen of Tusculum. ''It would have been different if she was hit by a ca
r. But this was just a blatant disregard for life.''
Family members and investigators said they had no idea why Owen was walking at 4 a.m. along Plus Park Boulevard near Murfreesboro P
ike.
It's
not an area you'd want to be at night, Metro police detective Marvin Rivera said.
Owen lived at an apartment complex in the area. When asked, police said they had no indica
tion that Owen was involved with prostitution or criminal activity at the time of her killing.
David Owen's wife, Harriet, said she thinks Owen might have been walking from her apartment to a nearby convenience store to get a pack of cigarettes.
An ex-girlfriend of one of the men charged with the slaying, Eliseo Marcelino-Quintero, lived at an apartment complex on Thompson Place and Owen cleaned apartments in that area, but Rivera said police had no indication that Owen knew the men accused of killing her. The men's story to police was that they had never seen her before the killing.
Owen
had some drug-related legal troubles last year, but family members said she did not talk to them about her problems.
She was convicted in April of criminal trespassing and possession of
drugs a
nd drug parapher
nalia and in October of possession of drug paraphernalia when she was found with crack pipes, court and police records show.
Her troubles began about two years ago after she broke up with a
longtime boyfriend, relatives said. As Owen became more distraught and began using drugs, she spent less time with her family and more time with what family members called ''the wrong crowd.''
The youngest of five brothers and sisters, Owen grew up in Mt. Juliet with her father and stepmother, Charlie and Sandy Owen. She never knew her birth mother, something that haunted her into adulthood, family members said. Her father died in 1990.
She graduated from Mt. Juliet High School in 1990, and spent about six years working as a waitress at local Hooters restaurants. She lat
er worked at several other local restaurants before getting a job cleaning apartments.
In the past year, Owen's distance from her family had increased, and many family membe
rs said they
didn't know exactly
what was going on with her.
''I'm torturing myself because I'm wondering what I could have done for her,'' said Mandy Reilly of Mt. Juliet, Owen's stepsister. ''We all loved her, but we didn't know
what was wrong.''
Despite her struggles with drugs, family members said, Owen never lost her spirited personality and continued to work as a house cleaner at an apartment complex on Thompson Lane.
Harriet Owen, Tracy's sister-in-law, is an educational assistant at Glenview Elementary School near the apartment complex and said she saw Owen occasionally at work. She said she last saw Owen about six weeks before her death.
''She was having a tough time, but she was doing it the best way she knew how,''
Harriet Owen said. ''But I'm sure she wanted that baby because she always talked about wanting children. Honestly, I think this child would have changed her whole li
fe. Sometimes yo
u can't pull yourself out o
f a hole, but a child can do it for you.''
Some family members said the pain of losing Owen in such a violent, abrupt way had been compounded by the distance between Owen and her family.
''She was a bit distant from us, and that makes everything even more sad,'' Rei
lly said. ''We hadn't talked in a couple years, but she was always in my prayers.''
Owen's stepbrother, Jason Loggins of Mt. Juliet, said the whole family was worried about Owen but never expected her life to end like it did.
''Tracy was fun-loving and kindhearted, and we always wanted her to do better,'' he said. ''She had a lot of struggles in her life, but we thought she wouldn't change until she was ready to change.
9;'
Owen loved pretty clothes and jewelry and played up her good looks and bubbly personality, family members said. Beneath her attractive veneer, they said,
Owen had a heart of
gold.
''She had a clear
heart, and good soul and a sweet spirit,'' Harriet Owen said. ''You never get over a loss like this, you just get through it.''
Funeral services
A memorial service for Tracy Owen will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday at Hickory Chapel, 5852 Nolensville Pike.
Family members said she will be cremated and her ashes scattered at a place that was spec
ial to her. Donations in her honor can be made payable to the Criminal Injuries Compensation Fund and mailed to the State of Tennessee Treasury Department, P.O. Box 198618, Nashville, Tenn. 37219-8618.
The suspects
Antonio Dejesus Idelfonso, 17, and Eliseo Marcelino-Quintero, 22, are charged in Tracy Owen's slaying and could face an additional charge in the killing of Owen's unborn
child, detectives said.
The men told police they killed Owen because they thought they had hit her with their pickup truck and didn't want to get into
trouble.
Marcel
ino-Quintero told police he bought the .22-cal
iber pistol used in the killing for $80 from a man on Thompson Place a few weeks before the shooting, detective Marvin Rivera said yesterday.
The men worked odd jobs for subcontractors and were in the country illegally, Rivera said.
The detective said he did not know how long the men had been in the country.
************
I'll bet everything I have in my pocket that this was a
paid hit by the baby's daddy.
T.N.B
'Nobody deserves to die like that'
http://www.tennessean.com/local/archives/0...ent_ID=45285059
Tracy Owen was a vivacious, feisty, bighearted woman --but one who was on a downward spiral as she struggled with addiction and a failed relationship, family members said.
As the 32-year-old house cleaner's personal life suffered, she distanced herself from her family,
nd some siblings said they hadn't seen her in years.
Her brother, David Owen, was the closest to her. He said yesterday that he last saw his sister about four weeks ago when he ran into her at a g
as
station on Murfreesboro Pike. When he saw her, he said, he didn't realize his sister was in the late stages of pregnancy.
The next time
he heard of his sister was Monday after she was shot five times and killed early that morning on Plus Park Boulevard near Murfreesboro Pike near Interstate 24. Police said two men charged in her death told police they killed the woman because they had hit her with their pickup truck and were afraid they would get in trouble.
Owen's family members said the killing had left them with rage, sadness and many unanswered questions.
''Everybody has their problems, but no matter what was going on with her, nobody deserves to die like that,'' said David Owen of Tusculum. ''It would have been different if she was hit by a ca
r. But this was just a blatant disregard for life.''
Family members and investigators said they had no idea why Owen was walking at 4 a.m. along Plus Park Boulevard near Murfreesboro P
ike.
It's
not an area you'd want to be at night, Metro police detective Marvin Rivera said.
Owen lived at an apartment complex in the area. When asked, police said they had no indica
tion that Owen was involved with prostitution or criminal activity at the time of her killing.
David Owen's wife, Harriet, said she thinks Owen might have been walking from her apartment to a nearby convenience store to get a pack of cigarettes.
An ex-girlfriend of one of the men charged with the slaying, Eliseo Marcelino-Quintero, lived at an apartment complex on Thompson Place and Owen cleaned apartments in that area, but Rivera said police had no indication that Owen knew the men accused of killing her. The men's story to police was that they had never seen her before the killing.
Owen
had some drug-related legal troubles last year, but family members said she did not talk to them about her problems.
She was convicted in April of criminal trespassing and possession of
drugs a
nd drug parapher
nalia and in October of possession of drug paraphernalia when she was found with crack pipes, court and police records show.
Her troubles began about two years ago after she broke up with a
longtime boyfriend, relatives said. As Owen became more distraught and began using drugs, she spent less time with her family and more time with what family members called ''the wrong crowd.''
The youngest of five brothers and sisters, Owen grew up in Mt. Juliet with her father and stepmother, Charlie and Sandy Owen. She never knew her birth mother, something that haunted her into adulthood, family members said. Her father died in 1990.
She graduated from Mt. Juliet High School in 1990, and spent about six years working as a waitress at local Hooters restaurants. She lat
er worked at several other local restaurants before getting a job cleaning apartments.
In the past year, Owen's distance from her family had increased, and many family membe
rs said they
didn't know exactly
what was going on with her.
''I'm torturing myself because I'm wondering what I could have done for her,'' said Mandy Reilly of Mt. Juliet, Owen's stepsister. ''We all loved her, but we didn't know
what was wrong.''
Despite her struggles with drugs, family members said, Owen never lost her spirited personality and continued to work as a house cleaner at an apartment complex on Thompson Lane.
Harriet Owen, Tracy's sister-in-law, is an educational assistant at Glenview Elementary School near the apartment complex and said she saw Owen occasionally at work. She said she last saw Owen about six weeks before her death.
''She was having a tough time, but she was doing it the best way she knew how,''
Harriet Owen said. ''But I'm sure she wanted that baby because she always talked about wanting children. Honestly, I think this child would have changed her whole li
fe. Sometimes yo
u can't pull yourself out o
f a hole, but a child can do it for you.''
Some family members said the pain of losing Owen in such a violent, abrupt way had been compounded by the distance between Owen and her family.
''She was a bit distant from us, and that makes everything even more sad,'' Rei
lly said. ''We hadn't talked in a couple years, but she was always in my prayers.''
Owen's stepbrother, Jason Loggins of Mt. Juliet, said the whole family was worried about Owen but never expected her life to end like it did.
''Tracy was fun-loving and kindhearted, and we always wanted her to do better,'' he said. ''She had a lot of struggles in her life, but we thought she wouldn't change until she was ready to change.
9;'
Owen loved pretty clothes and jewelry and played up her good looks and bubbly personality, family members said. Beneath her attractive veneer, they said,
Owen had a heart of
gold.
''She had a clear
heart, and good soul and a sweet spirit,'' Harriet Owen said. ''You never get over a loss like this, you just get through it.''
Funeral services
A memorial service for Tracy Owen will be held at 2 p.m. Saturday at Hickory Chapel, 5852 Nolensville Pike.
Family members said she will be cremated and her ashes scattered at a place that was spec
ial to her. Donations in her honor can be made payable to the Criminal Injuries Compensation Fund and mailed to the State of Tennessee Treasury Department, P.O. Box 198618, Nashville, Tenn. 37219-8618.
The suspects
Antonio Dejesus Idelfonso, 17, and Eliseo Marcelino-Quintero, 22, are charged in Tracy Owen's slaying and could face an additional charge in the killing of Owen's unborn
child, detectives said.
The men told police they killed Owen because they thought they had hit her with their pickup truck and didn't want to get into
trouble.
Marcel
ino-Quintero told police he bought the .22-cal
iber pistol used in the killing for $80 from a man on Thompson Place a few weeks before the shooting, detective Marvin Rivera said yesterday.
The men worked odd jobs for subcontractors and were in the country illegally, Rivera said.
The detective said he did not know how long the men had been in the country.
************
I'll bet everything I have in my pocket that this was a
paid hit by the baby's daddy.
T.N.B