Florida – July 9th – Bikers rode in Baldwin County over the weekend to raise money for the woman severely burned while working at a Circle K in Escambia County.
In March of this year, Joie Hellmich was burned on more than 30 percent of her body in March after being set on fire by another woman while working at the Circle K on Massachusetts Ave.
Her sister says she’s now out of the hospital after 95 days but still has a long road ahead of her. Hellmich’s face and arms were burned, and she nearly lost her hands.
This past weekend, bikers rode in Baldwin County and raised money to help out the single mother of two.
“We do rides all the time, and this to me — the biker community — is the most giving loyal people I’ve ever been associated with,” sister Brandy Springsteen said. “They are just amazing.”
Betty McFadden is charged with first-degree attempted murder. She was told “not to panhandle” outside the service station, according to the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office. She then left to retrieve a gas can and brought it back to the service station, dousing a clerk in gas, throwing a match, and setting her on fire. Another employee was burned after attempting to save the clerk, according to the sheriff’s office.
Investigators say McFadden had been told not to panhandle at the gas station and she retaliated by throwing gas on Hellmich and using matches to set her on fire.
In early June, Escambia County Sheriff Chip Simmons awarded a “Sheriff’s Medal” to her co-worker Sarah Emerich, who helped save Hellmich’s life during the incident. For more information, click here.
