Mickey Shunick

Today, we begin our lives without Mickey. We have not just lost our daughter, and our children have not just lost their sister; but all of us have all lost a part of ourselves. Now, as we begin our healing process, we can only ask for a bit of privacy from the media and the public during this somber time.

Thanks for posting the update.

lindamarie wrote:

Today, we begin our lives without Mickey. We have not just lost our daughter, and our children have not just lost their sister; but all of us have all lost a part of ourselves. Now, as we begin our healing process, we can only ask for a bit of privacy from the media and the public during this somber time.

Thanks for posting the update.

That is so sad!

5:07 PM, Aug. 11, 2012
Written by
Megan Wyatt
Louisiana Gannett

LAFAYETTE -- Her bright curly hair and vibrant smile could once be seen on almost every street corner in Acadiana. Almost three months later, many of the same faded fliers still cling to utility poles and storefronts, a symbol of Mickey Shunick's life that lingers in the heart of Acadiana.

Officials recovered the remains of Shunick, the 21-year-old college student whose name and face became ubiquitous after her May 19 disappearance, Tuesday from a gravesite in Evangeline Parish. On Thursday, authorities confirmed the remains belonged to Shunick, and Acadiana began to grieve the woman who touched those she never met.

"There were strangers who didn't know Mickey before that came out and helped," said Brettly Wilson, a close friend of Shunick and the last person known to have seen her before she went missing. "There were people who didn't know Mickey but knew somebody who knew her. There are all these degrees of separation that weren't really separation at all.

"We realized we all really knew everyone."

In darkness and uncertainty when she disappeared, Shunick's family and friends wasted no time in launching search efforts. A team of family, friends and concerned residents met the morning after her disappearance to scour the area she was last seen riding her bike.

They continued pushing Shunick's face into the community through fliers, social media and traditional media weeks after her disappearance. Nancy Rowe, Shunick's mother, says she now feels that much of the effort was pointless.

"The loss of Mickey's future (is) not just for her, but for her family and friends," Rowe said in an email sent Friday to The Daily Advertiser. "Each minute we were looking and crying and worrying she was probably already dead."

Although it is likely that no amount of search efforts would have brought Shunick home alive, the swell of support for an important cause has changed the people of Acadiana.

Wilson once viewed the world as a dark, depressing place. Even with the death of his close friend, Wilson has seen the good nature of humanity.

"I've always had a rather cynical opinion of the world at large, and this whole investigation has completely shattered that," Wilson said. "I've seen people step up and give everything, and it's hard to undo an impression that is that intense."

Victoria Broussard, who had known Shunick since middle school, describes Shunick as someone who loved life.

"I've never been so proud to call Lafayette my hometown," Broussard said. "I saw Mickey all the time and never thought to tell her, 'Hey, Mickey, I'm really glad to have known you and you're a great person.'"

John Abdella, a private investigator hired by the family, says he has never seen the community respond this strongly to a missing person case in his 40 years of work.

"It made me and my people that work for me work harder," Abdella said. "And we immediately knew early in that investigation that Sunday and Monday (after her disappearance) that something was drastically wrong."

Much of the community has speculated about Shunick riding her bicycle at 2 a.m. on a Saturday, but the biking community routinely defends her, often noting that cyclists should feel safe on their mode of transportation at any time of day.

Tony Bonomolo with Bike Lafayette knew Shunick because of their shared passion for biking. He finds it offensive when people express that Shunick misjudged the dangers of biking after dark.

"That's not the point," Bonomolo said. "The point is not that people shouldn't be riding their bikes alone at a certain time. The point is something horrible happened to somebody."

Others, such as the private investigator who worked on the Shunick case, argue that better judgment could have prevented the tragedy.

"I've learned from this case that you cannot rely on your judgment that you are going to be safe in every situation," Abdella said. "I'm told that Mickey felt safe, which is no longer true at this time. It's an eye opener."

Andrew Toups is the booking agent for Artmosphere, a bar Shunick frequented. While he did not know Shunick well, he often saw her with her friends at Artmosphere.

"What a lot of people take from it is a negative thing: that you can't be safe in Lafayette anymore," said Toups. "But I took sort of the opposite: that this is a wonderful and unique community that we could come together the way we did. I don't feel that the investigation and the breaks in the case could have happened like it did or as quickly as it did had it not been for the push by the family and friends and volunteers."

Josh Coen, a close friend and fellow biking enthusiast, has learned just how important it is to cherish the people in his life. He also says he doesn't "feel so lost anymore" to be a part of a community so capable of loving.

"She's changed everyone's life," Coen said. "That's for sure. I mean, she's been doing that way before this entire thing happened, so it doesn't surprise me."

Ashley Says, who had been a best friend to Shunick for the past seven years, describes her shy, animal-loving friend as someone who has taught countless people how to love unconditionally.

"She changed all of us," said Says. "We're all better people for having known her. The world is better having heard her story."

Still, to bring so much light to so many, light had to be taken away from Shunick in a way that has left her mother broken.

"Mickey was a lovely person, inside and out," Rowe said of her daughter. "It is just impossible to wrap my head around the idea that someone looked at her and thought that it would be a fun idea to torment her and destroy her life. Impossible to grasp.

"People talk about God's will and prayer a lot. I see no hand of God in this — only pure evil, families damaged and broken, including the murderer's."

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What a fight poor Mickey put up! How tragic that the wimpy coward resorted to a gun shot to save himself from her valiant self defense! Wish she had hit his jugular with one of those stabs! She certainly didn't go easily. May she rest in peace. Her brave efforts probably saved some more lives.

UL football team to honor Shunick

The University of Louisiana at Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns football players will carry Mickey Shunick with them for the 2012 season.

Team members will wear a decal portraying a girl on her bicycle on their helmets throughout the season, UL Sports Information Director Brian McCann said Tuesday night.

The name "Mickey" will be spelled beneath the bike.

Shunick, a UL student at the time of her death, was kidnapped while riding her bicycle on a Lafayette street and killed in the early morning hours of May 19.

Brandon Scott Lavergne pleaded guilty Friday to Shunick's murder, and that of another woman, Lisa Ann Pate, in 1999. He was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole, to be served at the Louisiana State Penitentiary in Angola.

A football staff member proposed the sticker to Hudspeth and the team, and the Cajuns coach approved it.

"Phenomenal idea," Hudspeth said after practice Tuesday night.

"We're just honored," he added, "to put that on the back of our helmets, to represent our entire student body."

When Lavergne pleaded Friday, court documents showed that Shunick fought him after he followed her and intentionally struck her bike with his pickup truck.

Shunick first sprayed Lavergne with Mace, then stabbed him several times with his own knife.

Taken for dead with stab wounds of her own and driven to a sugar cane field in north Acadia Parish, she later jumped up and stabbed Lavergne several times in the chest.

He then shot and killed her.

"What an inspirational story of courage — someone just fighting for her life," Hudspeth said. "I know our team is just very, very proud to honor one of our own students."

UL opens its season Sept. 1 against Lamar at Cajun Field.

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ACADIANA BUREAU
September 03, 2012

LAFAYETTE — A public celebration to honor murder victim Michaela “Mickey” Shunick is scheduled Sept. 29 at Parc International, followed by related events for the former University of Louisiana at Lafayette student.

Family and friends will recognize law enforcement officers, volunteers, donors, university officials, the 15th Judicial District Attorney’s Office, Texas Equusearch and the community as a whole for “this incredible effort and outpouring of love” to the Shunick family during “The Community Celebration to Honor Mickey Shunick,” a news release says.”

The Shunick family will also give a personal statement to the community at the event, which is scheduled for noon.

Afterward, three of Shunick’s favorite local bands will perform, beginning with a 1:30 performance by Whole Damn Town. ImagineIAM will perform at 2:30 p.m., and Rareluth will perform at 3:45 p.m.

The event will culminate in a 5 p.m. public bike ride following the route Shunick took on the morning of May 19, when she was abducted by Brandon Scott Lavergne while riding her bicycle from a friend’s home from Ryan Street downtown to her parent’s home on Governor Miro Street about five miles away.

Shunick was an avid cyclist and animal lover. The ride will conclude with the permanent placement of a ghost bike”at the end of St. Landry Street as a tribute to Shunick.

The Shunick family requests that the public continue on to ULL for the football game, where she will be honored. The game, featuring the Ragin Cajuns versus Florida International, will be dedicated to her strength and bravery.

Beer and food will be available for purchase, and T-shirts with a new, celebratory graphic will be sold for the cost of printing. To volunteer on the day of the celebration, contact [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.].

Lavergne, 33, of St. Landry Parish, pleaded guilty Aug. 17 to two counts of first-degree murder in the slayings of both Shunick, 22, and Lisa Pate, 35. He led authorities to Shunick’s body, which was found Aug. 7 buried near some grave sites in a small cemetery off La. 10 in Evangeline Parish near Mamou.

Lavergne, a registered sex offender, was arrested July 5 on counts of first-degree murder and aggravated kidnapping after police investigated a tip that connected him to a white truck seen on surveillance video the day Shunick disappeared.

On July 18, a Lafayette Parish grand jury, in a surprise move, charged Lavergne with first-degree murder in not only Shunick’s killing but also in the slaying of Pate. Both women were Lafayette residents.

Pate’s remains were discovered on Sept. 21, 1999, in rural Acadia Parish. She had been missing for several months. Lavergne had been a suspect in Pate’s killing since as early as 2000.

Lavergne reached a plea agreement where he will be sentenced to life in prison.

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Celebrate Mickey Shunick
By: Steve Wiley | 7 hours ago

The community celebration to honor the memory of Mickey Shunick will take place tomorrow (Sat. Sept. 29th) in Parc International, Downtown Lafayette. Gates open at 11:30 am.

The celebration begins at noon. The Shunick family wishes it to be clear that this is a celebration of Mickey’s life and not a “funeral”. Friends will share their memories. There are thousands of people to be acknowledged and thanked for their efforts to bring her home. City Parish President Joey Durel will be a guest speaker. The Acadiana Symphony String Quartet will perform.

Food and beverages will be available. There will be live entertainment from Whole Damn Town at 1:15, Imagine I Am at 2:15, and Rareluth at 3:30. The celebration concludes with a memorial bicycle ride at 4:15.

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Family and friends gather to honor Shunick

1:36 PM, Sep 29, 2012
Written by
Amanda McElfresh

Family and friends celebrated the life of Mickey Shunick and honored the community that pulled together to find her during a special event Saturday at Parc International.

Shunick disappeared May 19 while she was riding her bicycle home from a friend’s house.

A nearly three-month search ended in early August, when police found Shunick’s remains buried in rural Evangeline Parish. Brandon Scott Lavergne, a convicted sex offender, eventually pleaded guilty to murdering Shunick, as well as Lisa Pate in 1999. Lavergne is now serving a life sentence at Angola.

Throughout the summer, though, hundreds of volunteers searched across Acadiana for any sign of Shunick. Today’s celebration was to honor those volunteers and remember Shunick, who police said fought against Lavergne, stabbing him multiple times, before he eventually killed her.

“I think she’s absolutely a hero in everyone’s lives,” said attendee Angel Moore. “She stopped a monster.”

Sasha Nick, owner of The Little Paintbrush, said she doesn’t think anyone will forget the impact Shunick had on all of Acadiana.

“Our community comes together and does what needs to be done. We support each other,” Nick said. “I think this is going to be something that people never forget. We’re always going to remember Mickey.”

During the event, City-Parish President Joey Durel announced that he wants to dedicate a bike lane on a part of Bertrand Drive between the Horse Farm and University of Louisiana at Lafayette property as Mickey Shunick Way. The announcement got a huge round of applause and cheers from those in attendance.

The celebration will continue throughout the afternoon with live music from some of Shunick’s favorite bands. It will culminate in a memorial bike ride at 4:15 p.m., which will end with the permanent placement of a “ghost bike” at the end of St. Landry Street, near where Shunick was abducted.

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Lisa Pate and Mickey Shunick