Huffington Magazine Issue 41 | Page 52

GERRY SMITH APPLE PICKING ‘I’M GOING TO DIE’ For Paul Boken, any effort to deter iPhone thieves will come far too late. For years, his daughter Megan owned a BlackBerry, but wanted an iPhone because she thought it would make it easier to use social media and take photos, he said. Last July, he bought her a white iPhone at a retail store near the family’s home outside Chicago. One month later, Megan, then HUFFINGTON 03.24.13 23, was in St. Louis for job interviews as well as an alumni volleyball game at St. Louis University. Tall, thin and athletic, Megan had been captain of the volleyball team the previous year. As she got into her car that afternoon, a man whom police later identified as Keith Esters allegedly opened the passenger-side door and demanded her iPhone. According to police, Esters shot Megan twice in the chest and neck. She died in the car. Esters fled the scene, dropping the stolen iPhone nearby, prosecutors say. He later Alex Herald, 20, was stabbed for his iPhone in the Bronx last year. The attack left him paralyzed from the neck down.