Thursday, 4:30 PM
Hope, hunt continue in death of Jean Lampron
By Maria Cramer, GLOBE STAFF
Her death sparked outrage in South Boston, frightened women in the neighborhood into taking self-defense classes, and focused citywide attention on the burgeoning drug problems among South Boston teens.
But nearly one year after Jean Lampron suffered a heart attack after someone riding a bicycle grabbed her purse and dragged her to the ground, police still have no suspects in her killing and community leaders wonder if the assailant ever will be caught.
Friday, on the anniversary of the 68-year-old grandmother’s death, her children plan to go to her grave in Peabody, leave flowers, and pray.
‘‘We think of her always,’’ said Lampron’s daughter, Barbara Delaney, sitting in her South Boston living room, about two blocks from West 5th and D streets, where her mother was attacked.
But, Delaney said, she does not believe anyone outside her family thinks much about her mother anymore. ‘‘God forbid a cop calls to tell me what’s happening,’’ she said.
As for catching the killer, Lampron’s relatives believe prospects are bleak.
‘‘It would be a miracle,’’ said Lampron’s son-in-law, Michael Delaney. ‘‘It doesn’t look good.’’
Lampron was walking to the bus stop en route to her job at MFS Service Center Inc. on Boylston Street about 5:15 a.m. when a light-skinned male rode up on a metallic-brown, 15-speed Magna Zanzibar and assaulted her.
Her assailant fled on foot with the purse, leaving the bike.
America’s Most Wanted featured the attack, and the episode included quotes from Lampron as she spoke with the 911 operator. ‘‘I fought him,’’ she said. ‘‘He even dragged me on the ground, but I couldn’t hold onto him, and he ran up the street.’’
Following her death, hundreds of neighbors flooded community meetings to discuss the crime. A billboard went up on D Street with Lampron’s face and a $10,000 offer to anyone with information that led to the capture of the assailant. Many said they believed Lampron’s attacker was a young drug addict desperate for money and called for detoxification facilities in the neighborhood.
Now, community leaders struggle to attract more than a few dozen people to neighborhood meetings about crime. The billboard came down months ago. And about a month after a youth worker was apparently mistaken for a drug addict and stabbed, South Boston leaders said heroin and OxyContin have a strong hold on many young people here.
Representative Brian Wallace, a South Boston Democrat, said he remains optimistic Lampron’s killer will be caught, but his hope is fading. ‘‘It’s just a shame,’’ he said. ‘‘I thought a couple of times [police] were getting close. ... Every time it seemed that they got close, it fell apart.’’
Despite their pessimism, Lampron’s relatives and community leaders are trying to drum up neighborhood interest in the case again. Friday, Kimberly Delaney, Lampron’s granddaughter, plans to return to D Street and place a small poster of her grandmother and the reward offer on a utility pole.
Ed Flynn, a South Boston teacher who chairs the neighborhood crime watch group, said he is sending out e-mails and mailing literature to neighborhood residents to attract more volunteers and keep people updated about crime in general.
‘‘People want to see justice,’’ he said. ‘‘The Lamprons are a good family, and no one should have to go through that type of pain.’’
Delaney, who works as a shift coordinator at Burger King on Broadway, said she often listens to customers’ conversations in the hopes she will glean a clue about the killer. Aside from that, she said, there is little else she can do but hope police find the person responsible.
‘‘It’ll be a blessing if anything comes of it,’’ she said.
