Overview
- At 15 in 1978, Mary Vincent was abducted in California, raped, had both arms severed, and was thrown into a ravine, surviving by packing earth into her wounds and reaching a road for help.
- A forensic artist worked with Vincent to create a likeness that led to the arrest of Lawrence Singleton, whom she later identified in court.
- Singleton was convicted and sentenced to 14 years, served about eight, and was paroled in 1987 after protests led authorities to house him on San Quentin prison grounds because no community would accept him.
- In 1997 he murdered Roxanne Hayes in Tampa, received a death sentence, and died of cancer in prison in 2001.
- Vincent’s advocacy helped push California to raise maximum penalties in a measure nicknamed the Singleton bill, and she now lives in Washington as an artist who crafts prosthetic tools.