91-year-old Boston schools pioneer Jean McGuire stabbed several times in Franklin Park
JAMAICA PLAIN – Ninety-one-year-old Jean McGuire, the first Black woman elected to the Boston School Committee and a former director of the METCO desegregation program, was stabbed several times in Franklin Park Tuesday night.
She is in stable condition in the hospital and is expected to be OK. There have been no arrests in the attack, which WBZ-TV I-Team sources said was random.
It happened around 8:30 p.m. in the area of Playstead Road.
I-Team sources said McGuire parked her car on Walnut Street, walked into the park with her dog and was stabbed several times. She was rushed to the hospital where she spent the night. Boston Police said her injuries are "non-life-threatening."
McGuire's sister, Jeriline Brady-McGinnis, said police told her McGuire had been stabbed 5 times. She told WBZ her sister is in great shape and has been walking in that area for 40 years. McGuire's dog Bailey helped fight off the attacker.
"My concern is, and I'm thanking Jesus she's OK, she's in one piece. I'm glad she's the strong woman she is because she's a very physical person, takes care of herself really well," Brady-McGinnis said. "She won't be walking alone again."
Suffolk District Attorney Kevin Hayden said McGuire did not get a "complete view" of her attacker. He visited her at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center Wednesday.
Hayden told reporters she is going to be just fine, adding that she's known him and his family a long time.
"She is as positive and vibrant and upbeat as anyone who knows Jean McGuire would expect her to be even as she sits in a hospital bed," Hayden said. "That's miraculous, powerful and amazing."
Police said preliminary information reveals the suspect may have been injured in the attack. They're asking anyone who was in the park at the time of the stabbing and may have seen something to call them at 617-343-4275.
"There is no nicer person in the world. This is a woman who would do anything for anybody," Brady-McGinnis told WBZ. "This woman doesn't see color, she sees people and for this to happen to her."
"She has a huge history, well known, not only in Massachusetts, but other places. Well known through METCO. Jean is loved by hundreds and hundreds of people," Brady-McGinnis said.
She is the longest serving director of Boston's groundbreaking METCO program, which helped Boston students connect with suburban schools.
"To just imagine this happened is unbelievable. But I know she is strong and will come out of this doing what she's been doing in this community for decades," METCO CEO Milly Arbaje-Thomas said. "She is an amazing woman, a powerhouse, and every time you mention Jean McGuire's name people know she's a force to be reckoned with."
"I'm disgusted and angry to know that an elder in our community had to fear for her safety going about her daily routine, walking her dog," said Boston Mayor Michelle Wu. "I've had the chance to connect with this patient who is an inspiration in every way."
