Self Defense Classes Packed After South Boston Assaults
BOSTON (CBS) - They're learning to expect the unexpected. Women in South Boston deciding to take the offensive in defending themselves. "In a moment where something, an attack or anything like that happens, we want our instinct to kick in rather than fear," said Lindsey Bacon attending a free class offered by Ultimate Self Defense.
Fear is what the neighborhood has felt since 22-year-old Amy Lord was brutally murdered July 23. The Wilbraham native was walking out of her South Boston apartment when police say she was attacked and beaten by Edwin Alemany, forced to drive to five different ATM's to withdraw money, and then stabbed to death in Stony Brook Reservation in Hyde Park.
Related: Alemany Held On $3M Bail
Wednesday in court, Alemany, who's charged with her murder, faced arraignment for two other assaults in that same 24 hour period. One woman was punched and dragged as she walked to her job at a local Dunkin Donuts in the early morning of July 23. Another women was stabbed repeatedly as she tried to enter her South Boston apartment July 24.
Now the Ultimate Self Defense studio has never seen such a response, with women signing up in droves to take the class with instructor Andrea Muccini trying to teach confidence. "That they feel good about themselves, and that they want to protect themselves," she said. "I am glad to see that women want to do that."
In Amy Lord some of the women say they saw a little of themselves. "Her lifestyle, the description of her made me realize there's no reason it wasn't somebody like us," said Julia Medzhitova attending her second class. Alemany will be arraigned for Lord's murder in West Roxbury District Court on Thursday.
