A teenage girl’s horrific survival story exposes how our broken justice system failed to protect future victims when her rapist and would-be killer walked free after serving just eight years for attempted murder.
Story Overview
- 15-year-old Mary Vincent survived rape, dismemberment, and attempted murder in 1978
- Attacker Lawrence Singleton served only eight years for horrific crimes
- Singleton murdered another woman after early release from prison
- Case highlights dangerous failures in criminal justice sentencing
Brutal Attack and Miraculous Survival
In 1978, fifteen-year-old Mary Vincent made a decision that nearly cost her life when she accepted a ride from Lawrence Singleton while hitchhiking in California. What began as a simple request for transportation transformed into one of the most horrific crimes in American history. Singleton brutally raped the teenager, used a hatchet to sever both of her arms, then threw her off a 30-foot cliff, leaving her for dead in a remote ravine.
Against All Odds Recovery
Vincent’s survival instincts and determination proved stronger than her attacker’s murderous intent. Despite catastrophic injuries and shock, she packed her severed arm wounds with mud to stop the life-threatening bleeding. The injured teenager then climbed back up the steep cliff face and walked naked for miles through difficult terrain until a passing couple discovered her and rushed her to a hospital for emergency treatment.
Justice System Failures and Deadly Consequences
Vincent’s detailed description of her attacker led to Singleton’s swift arrest and conviction. However, the justice system’s response to this heinous crime reveals troubling priorities that prioritize criminal rehabilitation over public safety and victim protection. Despite committing rape, attempted murder, and aggravated mayhem, Singleton received a lenient sentence that allowed him freedom after serving merely eight years in prison.
The inadequate punishment proved tragically prophetic when Singleton murdered Roxanne Hayes following his early release. This preventable death demonstrates how soft-on-crime policies endanger innocent Americans while coddling violent predators. Vincent courageously testified against Singleton again, but another family suffered irreparable loss due to misguided criminal justice policies that fail to protect law-abiding citizens from repeat offenders.
Legacy of Advocacy and Resilience
Mary Vincent transformed her trauma into powerful advocacy for victims’ rights, fighting against the system failures that enabled her attacker’s second murder. Living with prosthetic arms, she continues speaking out against lenient sentencing policies that prioritize criminal comfort over public safety. Her story serves as a stark reminder that conservative calls for tough-on-crime policies and mandatory minimums for violent felonies protect innocent Americans from predators who view early release as opportunity rather than mercy.
