Mother's promise starts at tourney
At the golf benefit for her dead son's Little League, Jeanne Caroline will collect petition signatures in her push for legislators to require gun locks.
By CHRIS TISCH
Published November 12, 2004
LARGO - Jeanne Caroline has begun to fulfill the promise she made to her dead son.
Sean Caroline, 12, was fatally shot by a schoolmate who was playing with a gun last year. Since Sean's death, his mother has pledged to educate people about gun safety and push for a gun lock law in Florida.
Her quest begins Saturday morning with a golf tournament in her son's name. The tournament at the Largo Municipal Golf Course will raise money for the West Pinellas Little League, where Sean played baseball.
Jeanne Caroline will distribute gun locks and gun safety information at the tournament.
She also will begin taking signatures for a petition she hopes to one day take to the state Legislature. Caroline hopes to push legislators to pass a bill requiring all Florida gun owners to use locks.
She said her son, whom she called Seanne (pronounced Shawn-ee), has given her life a new purpose.
"This is my promise to Seanne and to all the kids," she said Thursday. "I have to do it. I have no choice. It opened my eyes, what happened to Seanne, of how many children are dying. It has to stop."
The tournament of nearly 100 golfers kicks off at 7:30 a.m. Largo City Commissioner Charlie Harper will start the best ball tournament.
Just before the first tee off, participants will release balloons into the sky to remember children who have been killed by guns, Caroline said.
"The balloon release is going to be beautiful," she said.
Caroline also has about $2,500 in raffle prizes and will hold a silent auction of Tampa Bay Devil Rays, Bucs and Lightning memorabilia. She said anyone - even those who don't play golf - are welcome to come and bid on the auction items.
Her son, a seventh-grader at Largo Middle School when he died, was an avid golfer who once shot a hole-in-one on the 12th hole at the city golf course.
Sean was at the Largo apartment of schoolmate Louis Mevec last September when he was shot. Mevec, who was 14 at the time, had retrieved a loaded .357-caliber Magnum from under the couch. His father kept the gun under the couch for protection but did not have it locked.
Mevec unloaded the gun but didn't realize he left one bullet inside. He began pulling the trigger, and when the gun clicked on the live round, Sean was shot in the head. He died instantly.
Mevec admitted guilt to a manslaughter charge and was sent to a boys village. His father, also named Louis, was found guilty of culpable negligence this summer and was sentenced to just less than three years in prison.
Caroline said she is not antigun but supports gun laws that will protect children.She hopes to reach out to the National Rifle Association and ask the organization to join her efforts.
"Something needs to be done soon to stop the bloodshed of our most precious children," she said.
IF YOU GOThe second annual Sean Caroline II Memorial Golf Tournament will start at 7:30 a.m. Saturday at the Largo Municipal Golf Course, 12500 131st St. N. The cost is $45, which includes golf, lunch and prizes. Though the tournament is nearly full, there may be room for those who want to walk the course. For information, call Jeanne Caroline at (727) 596-6967 or Tracy Jeffries at (727) 586-1533.