Author/Former Mayor of Miami Beach reacts to the Apparent Murder-Suicide Case Involving Coppell,Texas Mayor Jayne Peters
Former Mayor of South Beach Reacts to the Apparent Murder-Suicide Involving Coppell, Texas Mayor Jayne Peters. Daoud says Depression Led Him To Consider Taking His Own Life.
- Dallas, TX (1888PressRelease) July 19, 2010 - In what investigators believe to be an apparent murder-suicide case, police found Coppell, Texas Mayor Jayne Peters and her 19-year-old college-bound daughter shot dead at their suburban Dallas home last Tuesday evening.
The Coppell city manager alerted police and sent them to Peters' home after the usually prompt mayor failed to appear at a regularly scheduled city council meeting, according to CBS affiliate KTVT. When police arrived around 7:45 p.m. they found the bodies of Jayne Peters, 55 and her daughter Corrine Peters, 19. Both women had suffered gunshot wounds to the head. Police say they found four notes, but officials say they didn't offer an explanation for the deaths, only instructions for managing family affairs.
Police say there was no sign of forced entry and that the Dallas-area mayor apparently left the notes before shooting her teenage daughter to death then turning the gun on herself.
Author/Former Mayor of Miami Beach Alex Daoud, says his heart goes out to relatives, friends, and colleagues of the Mayor and her daughter. "You have to be in a really dark place to commit suicide," said Daoud. Those who contemplate ending their own life often feel trapped and that killing themselves and sometimes others, is tragically their only option."
A three-time elected mayor, Daoud ruled at the height of Miami Beach's "Cocaine Cowboy" era. In 1993, he says he reached his lowest point after being sentenced to 18 months in prison for taking bribes while in office. "I was in the depths of depression and contemplating suicide at the time," said Daoud.
In an excerpt from his book, Sins of South Beach, the former mayor revealed how close he actually came to ending his own life. "I paused in front of the bed and quickly opened the dark gym bag that lay on top. Inside was a black leather case. I carefully held the case, unzipping the cover and pulling aside the sheepskin inner lining to reveal the cold, compelling, gunmetal-blue steel of my 9mm Sig Sauer."
Fortunately Daoud realized suicide was not the answer. Instead of taking his life, he began to seek a path to redemption. "My phone number was always listed in the phone book when I was mayor. I still want to be able to help and give people someone they can talk to about problems they are having. That federal trial I went through was a nightmare, and I don't want to see anyone else go through that."
His critically acclaimed book Sins of South Beach tells his story and fall from grace. It is a warning to public servants about the moral pitfalls that may await. The book has been acquired by Cinepro Pictures to be made into a feature length film.
To set up a phone interview with Author/Former Miami Beach Mayor Alex Daoud, contact Tandi Wilder at She Got Game Media at (914) 572-3671.
###
space
space
Satisfied Users & 
Approved Press Releases
Print
Email
Report Spam