No one has been convicted of the crime.
Bean lives alone now. She’s been living alone for almost a year. She vacuums and does some cooking.
Her prosthetic right arm and useless left arm keep her from opening doors with round doorknobs, so she uses her feet.
She spends most of her day watching television. She doesn’t go out much, except to shop and go to church. Even now, the shame is too great, she said.
“I keep to myself,” she said. “I don’t do anything. I don’t go anywhere.”
All she has is her family. Her friends have all abandoned her. She has a nurse who spends a couple of hours with her every day, but other than that she has little human contact.
After the attack, Bean was in a coma for a month. When she woke up, it took her a long time to regain her mental abilities. She still can’t remember the attack.
She does remember what led up to the attack. She was using drugs at Holiday Town Apartments in Southern Pines, an area known for illegal drug activities.
Bean had been using drugs for years. She had been diagnosed bi-polar as a young woman.
At some point on the evening of March 23, 2003, someone beat Bean within an inch of her life. She had two skull fractures. The attacker piled sticks and pine straw on top of her and set it on fire. She had burns over 40 percent of her body.
The next morning, a tree trimming crew found her naked body on the concrete floor of a garage at the end of Fire Lane Road. The crew called 911 not knowing if she was alive or dead.
She eventually was taken to the burn center at UNC Hospitals in Chapel Hill. Her recovery took the better part of a year.
Southern Pines police had arrested David Shaw of Southern Pines and charged him with the attack, but he was released when a judge found no probable cause to try him for the crime. On the stand, the boy’s stepfather reversed a statement police say he gave them that had implicated Smith.
Officers hope Bean can regain her memory and provide them something that can help to break the case.
Bean said she feels persecuted by all sides.
“Even the police blame me,” she said. “They look at me bad because I can’t remember. I was in a coma for a month. I was so messed up. I can’t remember.”
Bean is hardest on herself. She constantly berates herself for not being able to remember, for being in the wrong place, for doing the wrong thing.
She hopes one day to be able to remember. She is seeing a psychiatrist Tuesday for hypnotism treatment for smoking. Bean said she will ask the doctor to try to help her remember as well.
Bean faces challenges every day. She can’t work, and she has bills to pay. Her son Travis was 5 at the time of the attack. He’s about to turn 9 now.
She is worried that the anger inside him is building up and causing him to act out.
Her ordeal isn’t done, either. Doctors want to amputate her left arm. It’s basically a useless appendage. She has two fingers left on the hand, her ring and small finger, but neither functions. The arm has an infection. Bean will find out in a couple of weeks if she can keep it.
But Bean has an upbeat side to her personality too. Though she has a tendency to dwell on her problems, she’s quick to laugh and enjoys a good conversation.
TiVo occupies most of her time.
“I’m like a little kid with a toy,” she said. “I sit at home and watch television.”
When Bean does go out, it is usually to talk to groups about the dangers of drug addiction. She’s thinking about going back to school to learn to be a motivational speaker.
The third anniversary of the attack passed Thursday without Bean even noticing. That, in some ways, she conceded Friday, is progress. She did know that it was coming, but when the day arrived, it passed like any other. Bean said that it may be evidence of her maturity.
“I turned 30 in February,” she said. “People ask me, ‘How does it feel to be 30?’ I say, ‘How am I supposed to feel?’ I do feel that I’m a lot smarter. I’m a better person now. I respect myself more. I respect others more. I’m closer to my family now.”
Those wishing to contribute to the Sherry Bean Fund can do so at RBC Centura in Pinehurst.
Matthew Moriarty may be reached at 693-2479 or by e-mail at moriarty@thepilot.com.
