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Mickie Mashburn, who seeks Lois Marrero's city pension, didn't name the slain officer as a beneficiary.
By AMY HERDY
© St. Petersburg Times, published August 31, 2001
TAMPA -- As the domestic partner of Lois Marrero, Tampa police Officer Mickie Mashburn could have named Marrero as the beneficiary of her city life insurance policy after the two women were joined in a commitment ceremony in 1991.
But she did not.
City records show that in 1985, Mashburn named someone else, the father of an old college friend, as the beneficiary of her $50,000 life insurance policy and has never changed it.
On Thursday, Mashburn's lawyer, Danny Castillo, dismissed that as an oversight on the part of his client.
"In this particular case, Mickie just probably never thought about it," he said.
Marrero's mother, who has opposed Mashburn's efforts to be awarded Marrero's city pension, said the life insurance document shows the lack of depth of the two women's relationship.
"That proves their relationship was not as strong as she is saying," Maria Marrero said of Mashburn. "Why does she want to be treated like a spouse if she did not treat Lois like a spouse?"
Lois Marrero, a veteran Tampa police officer, was killed by a bank robber July 6. She did not leave a will, although she named her mother as the beneficiary of her city life insurance, which was worth $125,000 because of the nature of her death.
Marrero did name Mashburn to receive a salary replacement benefit through the police union. Castillo said he did not know whether Mashburn had named Marrero to receive the same benefit.
He said the development will not hinder his effort to show that the two women were spouses and that Mashburn is entitled to Marrero's pension death benefits. If granted to Mashburn, the benefits would pay her $28,000 a year for the rest of her life.
If there is no surviving spouse, any contributions made to the pension would go to the estate, in this case, Lois Marrero's parents. Marrero's pension contributions are valued at $50,000.
Records show that Mashburn's life insurance beneficiary is a Tennessee man named Kenneth Nave. Nave's wife, Jeanette, told the Times on Thursday that she did not know that Mashburn had named her 75-year-old husband as her beneficiary. If she had, Mrs. Nave said, it was probably because Mashburn once was close friends with the Naves' daughter.
"They were friends for several years," Mrs. Nave, 72, said. She said both of Mashburn's parents are dead, and "she doesn't have much family. I was like a mother to her."
During an interview with the Times Thursday, Castillo indicated that the case is causing him some discomfort. He said he is "a conservative Catholic with six children" and does not necessarily agree with his client's case being linked to the gay rights movement.
"It's the individual I represent, not the cause. I'm not representing the gay cause," Castillo said. "I represent drug traffickers. It doesn't mean I like drug traffickers."
Asked whether he was thinking of leaving the case, he responded that that was not a decision for him to make.
"The problem I have is I'm representing a client," he said. "This is the business I chose. As I advocate for my client, my personal beliefs matter not. I personally may have a different view, but I have a legal obligation and ethical obligation to my client."
-- Times researcher John Martin contributed to this report. Amy Herdy can be reached at (813) 226-3386 or herdy@sptimes.com.