Writing a book about their ex-cop father, who regularly told his son and daughter that he would kill them and their mother, was no easy feat for the children of Barbara Sheehan, a Howard Beach resident acquitted of murder after she shot her husband 11 times in what she said was self- defense.
“In Bed with The Badge: The Barbara Sheehan Story,” was written by Jennifer Sheehan Joyce, 25, now a nurse living with her husband in California, and Raymond Sheehan, 21, who lives in Howard Beach and plans to become a physician’s assistant. It is expected to be released on July 17.
“Our story is not easily shared, but we feel it will help others and that is very important to us,” the two wrote on the book’s official website, inbedwiththebadge.com. “It is our faith and belief in God that has allowed us to get to this point in our lives. Of course, we owe it mostly to Mom.”
The killing occurred in 2008 after Sheehan said her husband, Raymond Sheehan, had pointed a gun at her and told her he was going to kill her that day, following nearly two decades of alleged physical and emotional abuse.
According to Sheehan, her husband would routinely threaten to kill her and smashed her head against a cinder block wall while they were on vacation, punched her in the face and threw boiling spaghetti sauce on her.
Sheehan first shot her husband five times with a revolver and another six times with a semi-automatic. She was found guilty of using the .9-mm pistol, a verdict which she is now appealing.
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