Miss Audrey Spain
1968-1993
1968-1993
The day before her murder, Miss Audrey arrived back in Charlotte after taking her much needed vacation, she called her boss at Taco Bell regarding her upcoming weekly work schedule. She worked with the man who murdered her. She also knew Miss Shawna Hawk, for she worked alongside with her as well as Vanessa Little Mack's sister, Leslie.
She was murdered on the night of June 22, 1993. For three days, her boss at Taco Bell called her home for being absent at work. Around that time, her family and friends were worried and they eventually filed the missing person's alert the next day. On the 24th, the boss at Taco Bell went to her house for a welfare check. He only knocked on her door. The police came to her house that night as well. However, on the 25th, he went over to her house only to find police cars and ambulance at her apartment. The maintenance man found her body in the afternoon of June 25th. She's been dead for two and a half days.
Her family described her as being friendly and compassionate. She's a beautiful and very intelligent young woman. As a matter of fact, her parents were sad that she left her small town to live in Charlotte. Initially, she aspired to work in computer science, but that didn't panned out, so she landed a job as a manager at Taco Bell in East Charlotte.
Here are two news articles I found as I was researching for her story online. They're from the mid-1990s during the capital murder trial of Henry Louis Wallace. Her family was relieved that he was arrested, tried, and sentenced for the murder of their "baby" and youngest daughter.
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FAMILY SEEKS CLOSURE- September 1996 article
Author: Jeannine F. Hunter
Audrey Spain left Bayboro in 1991 seeking a future in Charlotte. But in July 1993, a killer brought that dream to an end.
Spain was 24 years old.
She was one of the women Henry Wallace is accused of killing. He goes on trial this week and her family hopes the trial will bring closure to their personal tragedy.
``The trial will add to the closure process. The sooner it's over the better,'' said Sinnia Mickle, Spain's oldest sister who lives in Charlotte. ``We can finally put everything to rest. But the hardest part is reliving it all over again. With the trial coming up, I'm sure that will happen again.''
Spain left home after graduating from Horry-Georgetown Technical College. She was hired as an assistant manager of a Taco Bell restaurant near Eastland Mall. Within months, she had bought a new car and had found her own apartment.
Along the way, Mickle said her sister met many people, including Wallace who also worked at Taco Bell.
``She did what Audrey wanted to do. She lived her own life,'' Mickle said. ``She was outgoing and kind of her own person and was happy about her life in Charlotte.''
She was the youngest daughter of Broughton and Mae Helen Spain. And friends in the Bayboro community, on S.C. 410 near Loris, said she was a sister to many families.
``She was so mature, strong and self-assured,'' said Elwood Goff, 46, a cousin. ``No one would think that she would allow someone in her apartment unless she knew them well and trusted them.
``Out of all the daughters, she was probably the one who could really take care of herself. She was small but big in the heart,'' said Goff, a member of Mount Olive Baptist Church where Spain was a choir member and an usher.
The Sunday before she was killed, Spain had been at his house for a cook-out.
``It changed things in Bayboro because this was the first major incident that hit this community,'' Goff said. ``It made a lot of us really look at life because she was so young and just beginning to get out and make something of herself. Everybody was real proud of her . . . It scared some parents, especially of daughters who lived away.''
At the church, a college scholarship was established to honor Spain and other youth who had died in the community.
``It's for kids going to college as a way to encourage them and remember the other kids who are no longer with us,'' Goff said. ``Whatever we can get into that fund, we split it among the kids.''
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SENTENCE BRINGS FAMILY A MEASURE OF PEACE- February 1997 article
When Mae Helen Spain learned Henry Wallace Jr. was sentenced to die for raping and killing her daughter, she cried and walked to her daughter's grave.
``Audrey, now everything is over with. You can rest,'' Spain said beside her daughter's grave.
Audrey Spain, a native of the Bayboro community near Loris, was one of nine women Wallace raped and killed between 1992 and 1994. Wallace received a death sentence in each case.
Wallace, 31, was convicted three weeks ago of 27 felonies -- including nine counts of first-degree murder and eight counts of first-degree rape -- and two misdemeanors.
Spain was the second-youngest child of Mae Helen and Broughton Spain. Mae Helen Spain is a nurse with InCare on U.S. 17 Bypass. Broughton ``Brock'' Spain works at Bell and Bell Pontiac Oldsmobile GMC Truck Inc. in Little River.
``(Wednesday) morning, before the lawyer called, I was driving and a bird hit my windshield, and this happened the day Audrey was murdered,'' Mae Helen Spain. ``I think the Lord was telling me that things were going to go our way.
``I'm glad everything is finally over with.''
Spain was killed in July 1993, within a few weeks of her 24th birthday. She had moved to Charlotte, N.C., after attending Horry-Georgetown Technical College.
The Spains' poinsettia-filled living room contains religious books, handmade crafts and pictures of their five children, especially Audrey Spain. One shows her modeling a black leather outfit accented with gold rhinestones. It was taken the weekend before her death.
``The holidays have not been the same. I miss mostly her being around,'' said Spain's brother, Terrence Spain, a senior at Green Sea Floyds High School.
``During the holidays she'd come here after she worked almost all night at Taco Bell,'' Mae Helen Spain said. ``She would slip home at night so in the morning we'd wake up and she'd be here. She had a way of brightening up the home with her smile. It was always a nice present for us to see her.''
A look through Audrey Spain's quilted scrapbook showed a young woman who practiced karate, had perfect attendance at Green Sea Floyd Middle School, graduated from the Finklea Career Center and attended Denmark Technical and Horry-Georgetown Technical colleges.
The murder investigation and trial were difficult for the family. Broughton Spain said the trial caused his blood pressure to soar periodically. As a result he's had to take more than a month off from his job in Little River.
``During the trial, (Wallace) was smiling like nothing was happening,'' he said. ``He was smiling and writing like he didn't care that he killed my baby.''
At times, Mae Helen Spain would have to leave the courtroom.
``I was sitting and cold chills would just run through me. It was rough.''
The Spains and several people in the community believe the death penalty is the appropriate punishment for Wallace.
``I wouldn't want to have him on the street again hurting anyone else,'' Broughton Spain said.
Among the worries the parents had was whether Audrey suffered and whether her soul was at peace.
``I'm concerned about her soul and have always been concerned about it,'' Mae Helen Spain said. ``But now, I feel like she's gone to a better place.''
Shortly after Spain's death, the family developed negative feelings toward law enforcement officials in Charlotte who were slow to connect the pattern of the killings: young, black women.
``At one time, I hated Charlotte with a passion . . . because I felt like the policemen could have done more than what they were doing,'' Mae Helen Spain said. ``We kept praying that whoever was doing this to these women would be caught so he wouldn't hurt nobody else.''
In a handwritten-letter thanking the community for their support, the Spains wrote:
``One never knows how much he or she counts until tragedy strikes. . . . Not only have we received encouraging words and prayers, but financial support has also poured in. Without the support of friends like many of you, our desire to keep abreast of legal proceedings would not have been possible.
``Finally we can come to some kind of closure in our minds about this tragic event. Thank you so much for thinking of us.''
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May Miss Audrey rests in peace and in power.
Links:
Lives of the Victims
Violence Against Black Women: Four Cases
Media's Lack of Coverage and Societal Lack of Compassion Regarding Serial Murders of Black Women
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