The Huntsville Times, Sunday, December 14, 2008 A17
Family
Continued from page A13
Pam typed “okay” and got up
to make a quick trip to the rest-
room. When she walked back
bythescreen,shehadamessage
fromKristenthatJaywasonthe
phone. A normally meticulous
typist, Kristen misspelled Jay’s
name.
“The next thing she wrote
was‘Billy’s beenshot,’ ”Pamsaid.
“I freaked. The only people at
home were me and my son. I
said ‘Get your shoes on right
now.’ Being a kid, he said, ‘Why
Mom?’ I said, ‘Just do it. Don’t
argue with me; do it now.
Uncle Billy’s been shot, and I
don’t care if it’s in the toe, we’re
going to the hospital.’ ”
The lights overwhelmed her.
Reporters closed in the minute
she got out of her car. She could
remember thinking, “How do
they know I’m his sister?” Be-
fore she could ask, she was
sweptintotheemergencyroom
by a Huntsville police officer.
Officers lined every hallway
to her brother’s room. Pam said
shehadneverseensomanypo-
lice officers in one place. The
crowd of badges parted as her
policeescortpracticallydragged
her to their destination.
“They were shoulder-to-
shoulder, all the way down the
hallway, every hallway at every
turn,andtheywereallsaluting,”
she said. “I knew at that point
that it was bad.”
Growing up blue
Beverly Freeman always
knew her son would be a cop.
William Eric Freeman, who
decided at age 12 that he no
longer wanted to be called Billy
and instead would go by the
nameEric,nevergrewoutofhis
childhood fascination with po-
lice.
When he was only two years
old,hesatinfrontoftheTVand
watchedpoliceshowssimilarto
“COPS.”
Beverly said he would throw
a fit if he wasn’t home in time
to watch his show.
“Mostthingslikethischildren
grow out of, but he grew more
intense,” she said. “It didn’t sur-
prise me at all when he came
home and said he had applied
for the police academy.
“I was so proud of him, but
my heart dropped to the floor.
I think going to war is easier
than being a cop on the streets.”
When Eric and his family
livedinMissouri,hehadhisfirst
real interaction with police.
The family car wrecked and
crashed into a river, and local
police officers helped Eric and
his family to safety. From that
pointon,thepolicewerehishe-
roes, Beverly said.
PamsaidEricchosetowatch
“SmokeyandtheBandit”onone
screenatadrive-inmoviewhile
she watched “Saturday Night
Fever” on another with the rest
of the family. She can still pic-
ture her brother in his favorite
brown shirt with horse-riding
cowboys on the lapels, his curly
brown hair framing his freck-
ledfacewhilehedancedaround
the house singing “Rhinestone
Cowboy.”
Matchbox cars littered the
Freeman’s home when the chil-
dren were growing up in Baton
Rouge, La. Eric had a large col-
lection of model police cars, fire
trucks, any public safety vehicle
he could get his hands on, his
mother said.
Accused
Continued from page A13
ingunspecifiedmonetarydam-
agesfromShipp,freezinghisas-
sets until a jury can make a de-
termination in the case.
Her lawyers, David Marsh
and Derrick Mills of Birming-
ham, are asking for a judgment
in an amount in accordance
with the enormity and the
“gravity of the wrong” that has
McMunn
Construction
New Construction • Additions • Sunrooms
Kitchen & Bathroom Renovations
Roofing • Masonry Work
“Eric was a human
being; he wasn’t just a Movie Gallery’s
cop. He was human just
like the rest of us. He
hometown sees
jobs moving out
had a life other than
police work.”
Jay Freeman Company gets rid Movie Gallery filed for
Brother of old HQ, keeps bankruptcy two years
He had been on the few employees
Huntsville force three years The Associated Press after it purchased
when he died.
His family remembers him
DOTHAN – Little is left
from Movie Gallery’s two-
Hollywood Video.
for his dedication to God – he decade run in its Alabama based Hollywood Video. The
was a church-going man who hometown.
company has struggled ever
even named his paintball busi- LongamainstayinDothan, since because of debt from the
ness accordingly, D.O.G. for thevideochain’s topexecutives
deal.
Depending on God – and his are now in Wilsonville, Ore., Torng said the company is
dedication to family. wherethemanagementstruc-
trying to reduce costs and
He was well-loved in the ture relocated after the com- consolidate services, part of
community,asevidencedbythe pany filed for bankruptcy in
whichisjettisoningtheformer
outpouring of support for his 2007.
headquarters. He said the
family after his death, Pam The company’s 70,000-
square-footformerheadquar- company is currently looking
said. for more suitable office space
“Weasafamilywouldloveto tersinanoldmallisupforsale
or lease, and only a handful of in Dothan for its remaining
thankthecommunityforevery- central employees remain. employees.
thing they have done, and Company spokesman Cliff Torng said he did not know
would like to tell them and that Torng said Movie Gallery will how many the company ex-
we’re doing better,” she said Fri- maintain a presence in its old pected to retain in Dothan, or
day night. “It’s still very, very hometown,butnotlikebefore. for how long. “The difficulty is
hard;extremelyhard.Butwe’re “It makes sense for us right lookingintothecrystalball,” he
doing better. now to have some part of the said. “It’s hard to make a long-
“Remember to seize the day. operation there,” said Torng. term projection.”
Youdon’tknowwhensomeone “Your executive team sits in MovieGallerycallsitselfthe
will be taken away so quickly. Oregon, but there is still a lot second-largest video rental
Especially during the holiday of experience located not just company in North America
times, everybody needs a hand, in Dothan, but all across the with about 3,300 stores in all
whether they know it or not.” country.” 50 U.S. states and Canada. It
MovieGalleryfiledforbank- has announced more than
One year later ruptcy protection two years 1,000 store closings since the
Eric Schultz/Huntsville Times
They’ll be at his grave today. afteritpurchasedtheOregon- Hollywood Video deal.
A police car passes a wind chime and flowers that still mark the
The family dog, Casey, even
place where Officer Eric Freeman was shot on Bailey Cove Road understands the gravity of the
just north of Weatherly Road in southeast Huntsville. occasion.Thedog,whowrestled Tennessee lawmaker urges
Ifthecardidn’tmeshwithhis and Elijah – were the center of
police theme, he would paint it his universe, Beverly said.
withEricfromthetimeshewas
apuppytothetimehedied,tip- grads to ‘go at own pace’
to match. Leslie Freeman’s lawyers ad- toes across the cemetery when
‘He was human’
vised her to avoid publicity theytakeherthere,Beverlysaid. Blackburn says The Laurel, Miss., native
praised Southerners finely
untiltheconclusionofthecrim- She avoids the headstones and
Alwaysthefamilycomedian, inalandciviltrialsinvolvingher lies quietly by Eric’s grave while appreciate lessons tuned internal clocks, ex-
Eric pulled a few pranks his husband’s death, a police Beverly talks to her son.
family wouldn’t let him forget. spokesman said.
from ‘front porch’ plaining, “We know the
Tonight they’ll cook Eric’s fa- The Associated Press rhythms of life are to be en-
He and a friend planted a vorite foods. Mashed potatoes joyed and not to be sped past.
snakeskin inhismother’s laun- Fulfilling a dream and gravy will no doubt be on
STARKVILLE, Miss. – A
“Anything worth doing is
dry basket one night and Eric served as an officer in the menu. Tennessee congresswoman
has urged graduates at Mis- worthdoingwell,andpoorde-
laughed quietly behind her Ardmore for a few years, wait- cisionsarealmostalwaysmade
back while she frantically ing for a chance to join the Tomorrow, Jay will get Eric’s sissippi State University,
badge number tattooed on his whethernativetotheSouthor inarush.Whenyourushtothe
searchedthehouseforthecrea- Huntsville Police Department.
arm. It’
s his first, and probably not, to appreciate the region, finish line, you are speeding
ture that had left the skin. HetookajobatHuntsvilleHos-
He would wrap strings pital, working with Jay, until he his last, tattoo. especially what she called its past opportunities.
around his ears at school, pin- finally got his chance. And every day after that for lessons learned from the front “As you travel in life, listen
ning back his ears when the After only three months of the rest of her life, Beverly will porch. to your internal clock and go
teacherwaslookingandpulling working at the south precinct, walk by the glass case contain- Rep.MarshaW.Blackburn, at your own pace, a pace that
the string to flap them around hecaughtaWal-Martthiefthat ing the dozens of medals and R-Tenn., addressed graduates reflects the studied contem-
when her back was turned. other officers hadn’t been able awardsthathersonearned,and at both the Friday night and plation of the front porch,”
Likeanyolderbrother,hetor- to catch. she will tell him she loves him. Saturday morning programs. Blackburn said.
mented his younger sibling, al-
ways chasing him and stealing
his peanut butter sandwiches,
Pam said. He would never get
up and fix his own food – he
would wait until Jay came into
theroom,thenwouldchaseand
tackle his brother, keeping up
the act well into adulthood. It
became a family tradition, in a
way.
Before he became an officer,
Eric had his rule-breaking mo-
ments. Jay said he remembers
sneaking into Tiger Stadium –
EricwasahugeLSUfan–while
theirfatherwasattendingclass-
es at the university. They would
inevitably get caught, but that
was part of the fun.
“Eric was a human being; he
wasn’t just a cop,” Jay said. “He
was human just like the rest of
us. He had a life other than po-
lice work.”
Eric, a graduate of Hazel
GreenHighSchool,lovednoth-
ing more than his family. His
wife, Leslie, and their children
–Cole,Cameron,Austin,Emily
been committed, according to
court documents.
Shipp’s lawyershaveaskedfor
a stay in the case until the crim-
inal charges are disposed.
Shipp is an engineer and a
former employee of the U.S.
Army Aviation and Missile
Command on Redstone Arse-
nal. He listed his annual salary
as $137,000 and claimed two
dependents on his application
for a court-appointed lawyer.
476-1488
Roger McMunn
General Contractor
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