What you see here appears to be a photo of some old friends. People who have known and loved each other for a very long time.
Photo: Debbie Baigrie
Debbie Baigrie and Ian Manuel
The truth is, this is the first time that Debbie Baigrie and Ian Manuel have seen each other in more than 26 years. The last time the two came face-to-face, Ian Manuel shot Debbie in the mouth during a robbery. He blew out part of her jaw, her back teeth, her front teeth and part of her gums.
Ian was 13 years old.
The two met in a parking lot at a Florida gas station, just hours after Ian was released from prison. “Ian and I got out of the cars and we hugged for two minutes,” Debbie explains. “It was like a long lost reunion. It was so nice.”
How can this be? How can a woman who was innocently mugged and nearly killed be warmly hugging the ex-prisoner who did that to her? Their story might surprise you.
In 1990, Ian was 13, living in one of the poorest and most violent housing projects in the entire state of Florida. He lived in Tampa. One July evening, while out with a group of friends for the first time since having her second child, Debbie was approached by Ian and a group of older teen boys.
Ian pulled a gun on Debbie and told her to “give it up,” before he started shooting. That’s when one of the bullets went into Debbie’s mouth and out her jaw.
“It blew out all the bottom teeth and the gums on the lower left side of my mouth,” she said. It also knocked out her front tooth and ripped part of her tongue.
Ian was arrested days later in an unrelated case. While in custody he admitted to being the gunman that wounded Debbie.
Although he was barely a teen, the judge noted Ian’s prior arrests and sentenced him to life without parole. The judge said they were going to make an example out of Ian. “They sentenced him to an adult prison,” Debbie said. “To me, that was heartbreaking.”
Photo: YouTube
