Florida teen Jennifer Mee, now charged with murder, is gullible and easily manipulated, and she underwent a radical change after her inability to stop hiccuping turned her into a mini-celebrity, friends and family members say.Three years ago, the then 15-year-old Mee developed hiccups that came 50 times a minute, causing her to miss school. Dubbed "Hiccup Girl," she tried many remedies, including medication, hypnosis and acupuncture -- all without success -- until the hiccups went away, on their own, after five weeks.
"We knew her before and during the hiccups," Kelly Cook, Mee's friend and former legal guardian, told AOL News. "I think she was mentally exhausted because of some things that were going on, [and] I feel that is how her body reacted. We took out of town one weekend and everything was fine, then all of a sudden they started to come out again.
"I don't think she was necessarily faking. ... [And] I don't know if she kept it going on for the attention, but I know that was the way she was coping with the issues she had."
Now 19, Mee, of St. Petersburg, was arrested and charged with first-degree murder in the weekend killing of Shannon Griffin. Two others, Laron Raiford, 20, and Lamont Newton, 22, were also charged in the slaying.
Cook says she is torn between sympathy for the victim's family and her belief that Mee lacks the mental capacity of a young woman her age.
"I am a mom, so I look at this as there is a mom out there without a son. But, I also look at this knowing Jennifer and knowing that her mom said that her [mentality] is [that of] a 12- or 13-year-old, [which] is totally true," Cook said.
According to Cook, the problems Mee experienced in connection with her hiccups spilled over into other parts of her life and caused her to have a difficult time in school.
"[She] didn't get to go to class anymore," Cook said. "She would go and sit in a room by herself with one other teacher ... and she did the work on the computer. ... Instead of home-schooling at home, it was inside the school in a classroom by herself. What 16- or 17-year-old wants to be doing that?"
A former classmate and friend of Mee's says she noticed a big change after Mee began receiving national media attention for her ailment, which included appearances on NBC's "Today Show."
"I used to hang out with her before she became the 'Hiccup Girl,'" Kayla Ann Labonte told AOL News. "I was the one [who] was with her the day it started. We had hung out the night before and we were great friends, but than she just drifted away. I guess [she] started to hang with people I did not like."
Mee's mother, Rachel Robidoux, told the "MJ Morning Show" on WFLZ Radio-Tampa on Monday that the hiccups became a "curse" for her daughter. She made similar statements to Tampa Bay Online, saying she noticed a "big change" in her daughter.
When the hiccup ordeal finally ended, Cook says Mee came to live with her for a brief period of time and she attempted to get the girl back on track.
"[We] tried to help," Cook said. "My sister and I were put down as legal guardians so she could go to school, [but] she wasn't going, so we called the school and took [ourselves] off as her legal guardians. You can go to jail if your kid is not going to school, ... so we told her she couldn't live with us. I feel bad because I wish I could have done more, but I have my own kids and they came first."
Cook believes Mee is naive and easily swayed to do what people ask of her.
"She would probably do anything a boy told her to do and not even ask questions," Cook said. "Even if I told her to do something, she may not ask questions. She may not even understand what I was saying but she would probably still do it."
Mee's father, Chris Robidoux, also told Tampa Bay Online that his daughter is easily manipulated. "She is not very intelligent [and] she is easily duped," Robidoux said.
Speaking on NBC's "Today Show" today, Maj. Mike Kovacsev of the St. Petersburg police said Mee had lured Griffin to a home, where the two other suspects robbed him at gunpoint. Griffin, 22, was killed during a struggle.
"She ultimately admitted that she met the victim at a social networking site and ultimately made several phone calls back and forth and had him come down and meet her," Kovacsev said. "When he arrived at that location, she brought him to the rear of the residence where the other two individuals were waiting at that time. There was supposed to be a robbery, [but] obviously it went awry and our victim in this case was shot."
Kovacsev did not identify the social networking website that Mee had used but did say that it was not Facebook or MySpace, where Mee reportedly has two online profiles.
In her now-defunct MySpace profile, Mee described herself as a Christian from "St. Pistol," Florida.
"My name is Jennifer, I'm almost 19 but don't let the age fool you, the struggles I've been through has made me grown up so much," Mee wrote in the "about me" section. "I'm always havin fun chillin or vibbin to some Gucci. I'm a down a-- chick and all the others will never compare so don't try me like I'm the next hoe. I've lived in Florida for a while now but my heart is still in Vermont? I'm trying to better myself and just move on in life."
Mee's Facebook profile has not been updated since late last month. In it, she discusses partying and, on one occasion, going to a strip club.
"You can tell by looking at her [online profiles] that she is naive, but she is also just a girl who -- from things that happened to her in her past, which I assume will come out in the trial -- has an extreme need for men [and] attention," Cook said. Cook did not elaborate on those past experiences.
Labonte also believes Mee is easily influenced and said she would do whatever she thought was "cool."
"I think she just did it so she could make whoever happy," Labonte said. "She kinda was anything someone wanted. She tried to do for them [and] she didn't think for herself much."
According to Kovacsev, Mee lived a transient lifestyle before her arrest, moving from one location to another. Cook says Mee was able to support herself with Social Security checks that she received.
"I don't know [what it was for] but she had Social Security," Cook said on "Today." "She did live for a while in one apartment [and] that is when I tried to let her watch my kids again. Then [the landlord] finally evicted them for not paying and then she lived in the motel."
The last time Cook saw Mee was in August, when she went to take the teen out for her birthday.
"We took her out for her birthday and she was living at a motel," Cook said. "I tried asking her, 'Are you sure you don't want to come stay back with us?' Where [she was] staying was not good; ... it was a really seedy part of town. It just wasn't somewhere for her to be."
Mee would occasionally baby-sit for Cook, but all that changed when she went off on her own, Cook said.
"[With] the lifestyle she was living in I couldn't have her watching my kids. I couldn't stand that kind of stuff when it comes to my kids. My kids came home one time and told me stuff about her boyfriend -- stuff that was being said or done in the house while they were there -- [and] that was it. I cut her off. I didn't even call her. I called her mom and told her."
Investigators do not believe Mee was involved in the actual shooting and investigators "have an idea who handled the gun," Kovacsev told "Today."
Although police do not believe Mee was involved in the actual shooting, she is accused of being an accessory to a robbery that resulted in a death, which under Florida law, means she faces a murder charge. If convicted, she faces a possible sentence of life in prison, police said.
Kovacsev acknowledged it is possible Mee's attorney will blame her alleged involvement in the case on attention she received as the "Hiccup Girl." Kovacsev also said it is possible her lifestyle could be used by the defense.
Now 19, Mee, of St. Petersburg, was arrested and charged with first-degree murder in the weekend killing of Shannon Griffin. Two others, Laron Raiford, 20, and Lamont Newton, 22, were also charged in the slaying.
Cook says she is torn between sympathy for the victim's family and her belief that Mee lacks the mental capacity of a young woman her age.
"I am a mom, so I look at this as there is a mom out there without a son. But, I also look at this knowing Jennifer and knowing that her mom said that her [mentality] is [that of] a 12- or 13-year-old, [which] is totally true," Cook said.
According to Cook, the problems Mee experienced in connection with her hiccups spilled over into other parts of her life and caused her to have a difficult time in school.
"[She] didn't get to go to class anymore," Cook said. "She would go and sit in a room by herself with one other teacher ... and she did the work on the computer. ... Instead of home-schooling at home, it was inside the school in a classroom by herself. What 16- or 17-year-old wants to be doing that?"
A former classmate and friend of Mee's says she noticed a big change after Mee began receiving national media attention for her ailment, which included appearances on NBC's "Today Show."
"I used to hang out with her before she became the 'Hiccup Girl,'" Kayla Ann Labonte told AOL News. "I was the one [who] was with her the day it started. We had hung out the night before and we were great friends, but than she just drifted away. I guess [she] started to hang with people I did not like."
Mee's mother, Rachel Robidoux, told the "MJ Morning Show" on WFLZ Radio-Tampa on Monday that the hiccups became a "curse" for her daughter. She made similar statements to Tampa Bay Online, saying she noticed a "big change" in her daughter.
When the hiccup ordeal finally ended, Cook says Mee came to live with her for a brief period of time and she attempted to get the girl back on track.
"[We] tried to help," Cook said. "My sister and I were put down as legal guardians so she could go to school, [but] she wasn't going, so we called the school and took [ourselves] off as her legal guardians. You can go to jail if your kid is not going to school, ... so we told her she couldn't live with us. I feel bad because I wish I could have done more, but I have my own kids and they came first."
Cook believes Mee is naive and easily swayed to do what people ask of her.
"She would probably do anything a boy told her to do and not even ask questions," Cook said. "Even if I told her to do something, she may not ask questions. She may not even understand what I was saying but she would probably still do it."
Mee's father, Chris Robidoux, also told Tampa Bay Online that his daughter is easily manipulated. "She is not very intelligent [and] she is easily duped," Robidoux said.
Speaking on NBC's "Today Show" today, Maj. Mike Kovacsev of the St. Petersburg police said Mee had lured Griffin to a home, where the two other suspects robbed him at gunpoint. Griffin, 22, was killed during a struggle.
"She ultimately admitted that she met the victim at a social networking site and ultimately made several phone calls back and forth and had him come down and meet her," Kovacsev said. "When he arrived at that location, she brought him to the rear of the residence where the other two individuals were waiting at that time. There was supposed to be a robbery, [but] obviously it went awry and our victim in this case was shot."Kovacsev did not identify the social networking website that Mee had used but did say that it was not Facebook or MySpace, where Mee reportedly has two online profiles.
In her now-defunct MySpace profile, Mee described herself as a Christian from "St. Pistol," Florida.
"My name is Jennifer, I'm almost 19 but don't let the age fool you, the struggles I've been through has made me grown up so much," Mee wrote in the "about me" section. "I'm always havin fun chillin or vibbin to some Gucci. I'm a down a-- chick and all the others will never compare so don't try me like I'm the next hoe. I've lived in Florida for a while now but my heart is still in Vermont? I'm trying to better myself and just move on in life."
Mee's Facebook profile has not been updated since late last month. In it, she discusses partying and, on one occasion, going to a strip club.
"You can tell by looking at her [online profiles] that she is naive, but she is also just a girl who -- from things that happened to her in her past, which I assume will come out in the trial -- has an extreme need for men [and] attention," Cook said. Cook did not elaborate on those past experiences.
Labonte also believes Mee is easily influenced and said she would do whatever she thought was "cool."
"I think she just did it so she could make whoever happy," Labonte said. "She kinda was anything someone wanted. She tried to do for them [and] she didn't think for herself much."
According to Kovacsev, Mee lived a transient lifestyle before her arrest, moving from one location to another. Cook says Mee was able to support herself with Social Security checks that she received.
"I don't know [what it was for] but she had Social Security," Cook said on "Today." "She did live for a while in one apartment [and] that is when I tried to let her watch my kids again. Then [the landlord] finally evicted them for not paying and then she lived in the motel."
The last time Cook saw Mee was in August, when she went to take the teen out for her birthday.
"We took her out for her birthday and she was living at a motel," Cook said. "I tried asking her, 'Are you sure you don't want to come stay back with us?' Where [she was] staying was not good; ... it was a really seedy part of town. It just wasn't somewhere for her to be."
Mee would occasionally baby-sit for Cook, but all that changed when she went off on her own, Cook said.
"[With] the lifestyle she was living in I couldn't have her watching my kids. I couldn't stand that kind of stuff when it comes to my kids. My kids came home one time and told me stuff about her boyfriend -- stuff that was being said or done in the house while they were there -- [and] that was it. I cut her off. I didn't even call her. I called her mom and told her."
Investigators do not believe Mee was involved in the actual shooting and investigators "have an idea who handled the gun," Kovacsev told "Today."
Although police do not believe Mee was involved in the actual shooting, she is accused of being an accessory to a robbery that resulted in a death, which under Florida law, means she faces a murder charge. If convicted, she faces a possible sentence of life in prison, police said.
Kovacsev acknowledged it is possible Mee's attorney will blame her alleged involvement in the case on attention she received as the "Hiccup Girl." Kovacsev also said it is possible her lifestyle could be used by the defense.
Mee's attorney, John Trevena, has since told The Associated Press he might use Tourette's syndrome as part of his defense.
"Hiccups are a symptom of Tourette's," Trevena told the AP, declining to elaborate about how the condition might have affected his client's behavior. Trevena also said Mee still suffers from periodic bouts of the hiccups. "They'll always continue," he said.
Mee is being held in a protective confinement wing at the Pinellas County Jail with no bail set.
"I don't want people to think that I think she is an evil person, but ... I also don't want people to think I am defending her actions," Cook said. "I do think her actions were wrong and I think she did cause him to die, but I [also] think she may have been victimized in this."
Cook added: "Crime like this, it happens all the time but nobody seems to care except for now that she is the 'Hiccup Girl.' "
"Hiccups are a symptom of Tourette's," Trevena told the AP, declining to elaborate about how the condition might have affected his client's behavior. Trevena also said Mee still suffers from periodic bouts of the hiccups. "They'll always continue," he said.
Mee is being held in a protective confinement wing at the Pinellas County Jail with no bail set.
"I don't want people to think that I think she is an evil person, but ... I also don't want people to think I am defending her actions," Cook said. "I do think her actions were wrong and I think she did cause him to die, but I [also] think she may have been victimized in this."
Cook added: "Crime like this, it happens all the time but nobody seems to care except for now that she is the 'Hiccup Girl.' "
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