Mickey, a divorced mother of four, told her ex-husband, Gary, that she was pregnant around mid-March and asked for a loan to pay for the costly abortion. Gary said that although she indicated that she wanted the money for an abortion, she never discussed the details with him, nor why she had made that choice.
The couple had met when attending Ysleta High School. They had married in 1973 and divorced in 1980.
Mickey went to Showery's Southside Medical Center in El Paso on March 17 to look into arranging an abortion. The appointment was scheduled for April 11. The reason for the delay isn't mentioned.
Mickey arrived at 8:30 that morning. By that time, she was about 19 weeks pregnant. She wasn't brought back to the procedure room until 2 p.m. Showery spent 45 minutes to an hour performing the abortion.
During the abortion, Showery tore a 2 1/2 inch hole in Mickey's uterus and severed a uterine artery. However, Showery didn't detect the injury and sent Mickey to the recovery room. A nurse later noticed that Mickey was hemorrhaging. Showery took Mickey back to the procedure room and ordered a transfusion. It wasn't until 5 pm that anybody called an ambulance. Mickey had hemorrhaged for at least an hour before she was transferred to Providence Memorial Hospital, where she died at around 9 p.m. during an emergency hysterectomy.
A grand jury handed down an indictment for involuntary manslaughter in Mickey's death. They determined that Showery had inadequately trained staff assisting him, had not properly repaired the hole he had torn in Mickey's uterus, and delayed transfer to a hospital.
Otela Conn, who had been one of Mickey's neighbors for several years told the El Paso Herald Post, "She was such a sweet little girl. I really liked her. When she had [her youngest] baby, she was so happy and she was saying she thought she might like to have more. And she was good to those kids. She did the best she could for them. I just can't believe she'd have an abortion."
Showery was held pending $1 million dollars bail while awaiting trial in Mickey's death. While he was in prison, local pro-choicers rallied outside with signs asserting that Showery was "a good man" and that he "helps the poor." The fact that he helped Mickey Apodaca straight into an early grave was lost on them.
The charges were dropped in 1987, though Showery remained incarcerated, serving a 15-year sentence for the murder of the baby.
Watch Mickey's Misplaced Trust on YouTube.
Sources:
- "Showery booked into county jail," El Paso Herald-Post, April 13, 1984
- "Man bitter over ex-wife's death," El Paso Herald-Post, April 13, 1984
- "Investigator details fatal abortion," The El Paso Times, April 26, 1984
- "Showery finds fault in prosecution of his case," The El Paso Herald," May 1, 1984
- "Showery indicted in woman's death," El Paso Times, May 4, 1984
- "Showery pleads not guilty to charge he caused death," The El Paso Times, May 8, 1984
- "Court ruling might help Showery get out of jail," El Paso Times, September 27, 1984
- "Lawyer hopes court victory gets Showery out of jail soon," The El Paso Times, April 18, 1985
- "Appeal review results in dismissal of doctor's case," El Paso Herald Post, October 9, 1987
- "Charge against Showery dropped," The El Paso Times, October 10, 1987
- "Charges are dropped," The Odessa (TX) American, October 11, 1987
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