On social media, you can find people who are known for all kinds of weird stuff. People have become famous for eating strange things, taking selfies with dangerous animals, or just being famous for being famous. Then there was Jennifer Mee, a 15-year-old girl from Saint Petersburg, Florida, who had a bizarre medical condition back in 2007. She could not stop hiccupping for five weeks. Mee said she hiccupped 50 times per minute.
There were reports on every network about this story. I can remember her discussing all of the different things she tried to do to stop her hiccups. Thankfully, her hiccups just eventually stopped. You know how painful hiccups can be if you’ve ever experienced them. Hiccups can start or stop at any time. The condition occurs when your diaphragm is irritated by something you eat or drink. Hiccups can result from eating too fast, drinking carbonated drinks, and eating spicy foods.
So back to Jennifer Mee. After her bout with the hiccups ended, her fifteen minutes were up and she faded back into obscurity. So what happened to her after her time in the spotlight? Unfortunately, she went through a dark period in her life and was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to life without parole.
How does a teenager go from having nonstop hiccups to being convicted of murder? Unbeknownst to most, Mee’s troubles began two years before she became known as the “hiccup girl.”
True crime author M. William Phelps wrote a book about her troubled life called “One Breath Away.”
A 13-year-old Mee was raped as a child, sold drugs, miscarried, and had Tourette’s syndrome. As an adult, Mee continued to sell drugs and commit robberies with her boyfriend Lamont Newton and his friend Laron Raiford. On October 23, 2010, Mee had set up a meeting with a 22-year-old man named Shannon Griffin.
The moment Griffin arrived, he soon learned that Mee had enticed him there for Newton and Raiford to rob. They demanded Griffin’s money, but he refused. Raiford shot Griffin to death after he tried to fight back. Mee and her two accomplices were charged with Griffin’s murder.
All three were sentenced to life in prison for killing Griffin. Mee transitioned from being a media darling for her hiccups to becoming a convicted killer who will die in prison. Florida law still considers Mee just as guilty as the actual killer, even though she didn’t pull the trigger. Currently, she has an easily recognizable neck tattoo and lives in an Ocala, Florida prison with a neck tattoo.
There is a petition to release her if you feel like looking at it. However, Shannon Griffin’s family and probably many Florida residents think Mee is right where she belongs. Had Mee never encountered Griffin, he would probably still be alive today.
Marc is a longtime resident of Clermont County and an avid reader. Contact him through his website at www.themarcabe.com. Marc also has a podcast called Catch my Killer where he interviews family members seeking justice for their murdered loved ones. You can listen at www.catchmykiller.com.