Mollie Judith Olgin, 19, right, and Mary Christine Chapa, 18 Police in the Texas town of Portland are considering whether a lesbian couple may have been targeted because of their relationship, in a shooting which has left one young woman dead and her girlfriend in hospital. Mollie Judith Olgin, 19, died from a gunshot wound in the neck, after being shot at close range in a park at the weekend. Her girlfriend, Mary Christine Chapa, 18, is in serious but stable condition. Police hope Chapa can help them find a suspect and explain the motive behind the shooting. They say it has some of the hallmarks of a targeted attack. They believe that the women's attacker led them down a trail into tall grass before shooting them with a large-calibre handgun. A witness reported seeing a dark-coloured vehicle leave the scene. "Mollie touched the lives of everyone and will always be remembered for her intelligence, beauty, compassion, humour and her kind heart," the young victim’s family has written in an obituary announcing a memorial service on Friday in Portland. The couple had been dating for five months, friends told KZTV. "You always hear, 'They never did anything wrong. Why was it them? They were so innocent.' In all actuality, Mollie and Christine were innocent. They never did anything wrong," Samantha Garrett, Olgin's roommate, told KZTV. "I've been trying to think of anybody I know that would try and hurt them for any reason - especially them being a couple, and not one person has ever come to mind." “It’s something that I think all of us are going to carry with us for a while,” Frank Reyna, a friend of the women, told msnbc.com. “It’s going to take a while to get past this, the idea that there is somebody still out there that did this to these two amazing, beautiful people and that they’re walking free right now.” A makeshift memorial has been set up at the site where the pair was found. A candlelight vigil and walk are also planned for Friday in Portland, while there is also a national movement to hold vigils across the US, led by Cleve Jones, an activist, contemporary of Harvey Milk, and the creator of the AIDS Memorial quilt. "Last Friday, as millions of LGBT people and their allies were celebrating Pride, something awful happened in Portland, Texas," he says in a Facebook post. "We need to respond publicly to this tragedy. "Whoever shot Mary Christine Chapa and Mollie Judith Olgin, whatever the motive, regardless of where it happened, two beautiful girls were shot and one was killed. We need to honor the memory of Mollie and pray for the recovery of Mary. "Mary and Mollie loved each other. Now we need to show our love for them and their families and friends."
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Wednesday, 27th June 2012 - 1:33pm