‘It wasn’t her fault.’ KY hospital staffer couldn’t stop the violence that killed her
The gruesome death that Pamela Renee Anderson suffered last week is not the way her family will remember her.
The 57-year-old Kentucky hospital radiation therapist gave selflessly in her personal life.
She helped out a man she knew from a previous relationship, allowing him to store belongings in her basement. That man whose earlier behavior led Anderson to get a gun, install a home security system and seek a court protective order is accused of killing her in a vicious beating. Edward Shewmaker, 58, was charged with murder and held on a $1 million bond.
As the investigation into Anderson’s death continues, coroner reports and court documents aren’t likely to fully reflect the woman her sister knew: “Small woman, big personality.”
“She was full of life and hoped that life would be better,” Michele Thompson Keegan said. “She was energetic and effervescent and a friend to anybody who needed a friend. She gave selflessly.”
Anderson died one day before the start of Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Keegan said she hopes her sister’s death can increase domestic violence awareness and reduce the “stigma” around the issue.
“It wasn’t her fault,” Keegan said. “Even if she lacked the charity of character that she so openly exhibited. Even if she lacked every ounce of that, she did not deserve this.”
Anderson, a lifetime Marion County resident, born and raised in Lebanon, was a single mother with three children and three grandchildren, Keegan said. A gifted athlete herself, Anderson was the cheerleader for her loved ones as they competed too, Keegan said. She also kept a circle of close friends from high school who were planning a cruise together this year, Keegan said.
Anderson’s chosen second profession reflected her determination. She had worked at a local bank for much of her life, but decided in her late 30s that she wanted a new career, Keegan said. She went to St. Catharine College and got an associate’s degree to become a certified radiation therapist, Keegan said.
“I don’t know if I’d have had the guts to do it,” Keegan said of her sister’s major life change.
Anderson drove to Somerset for work at Lake Cumberland Regional Hospital cancer center, Keegan said, because she wasn’t willing to leave her hometown. The city of about 5,700 people is where she met Shewmaker long ago, and the two became high school sweethearts, Keegan said. They grew apart as “their lives took them in different directions,” Keegan said.
Old friends rekindled romance, but issues arose
They married other people but reunited after they both got divorced. It led to an on-again, off-again relationship, Keegan said. But Anderson realized after about a year that Shewmaker wasn’t the same, Keegan said.
“But the heart wants what it wants,” Keegan said. “Over and over, he convinced her that he would change.”
Anderson’s family saw warning signs, but never foresaw the ending, Keegan said. Anderson, over time took further steps to protect herself. She became a registered gun owner and installed security cameras at her home, Keegan said. She also filed a domestic violence order against Shewmaker in 2013, according to court records.
“She had made it clear in no uncompromising terms that she wanted nothing to do with him,” Keegan said.
Anderson and Shewmaker had contact with each other most recently because he was facing hardship, and she let him store stuff in her basement, Keegan said.
Anderson was “severely assaulted” in the early morning hours of Sept. 27, according to Marion County Sheriff Jimmy Clements.
Keegan described the damage. Anderson was “beaten beyond recognition,” with her nose broken, her eyes swollen shut and her skull fractured. Anderson had escaped to her neighbor’s house, Keegan said. She was eventually taken to the University of Kentucky Chandler Hospital, according to the Fayette County coroner’s office.
Anderson told everyone her account of what happened “until she couldn’t talk anymore,” Keegan said. She told the neighbors, the doctors, the nurses and her family.
“I can only imagine that she was desperate to make sure that her voice was heard,” she said.
Anderson was hospitalized until Wednesday, when doctors consulted with her family and decided she was fit to go home to continue recovering, Keegan said. The hospital is about a 90-minute drive away, Keegan said, and Anderson suffered bleeding in her brain on the way home.
The bleeding was so fast and significant that the damage was “irreversible” by the time they got back to the hospital, Keegan said. Keegan said she was confident the doctors did all they could. Even if Anderson stayed at the hospital, her survival was unlikely, Keegan said.
“They can’t fix everything,” Keegan said. “Not everyone gets a good outcome.”
Alleged attacker evaded police for days
Anderson was declared dead just after 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, according to the coroner’s office. Meanwhile, the search for Shewmaker was on, according to Marion County Sheriff Jimmy Clements. After Anderson’s death, a murder warrant was issued for Shewmaker.
The 58-year-old Marion County native was believed to still be in the county, but he had connections in multiple states. Clements said. The sheriff’s office monitored several leads, and authorities got a call Friday morning that Shewmaker had showed up to work to attempt to collect his paycheck, Clements said.
When confronted by Lebanon police, he fled to his truck and led authorities on a chase, Clements said. They lost him around the Marion County-Taylor County line, Clements said. Kentucky State Police later took him into custody without further incident in Spencer County, Clements said.
Shewmaker refused to answer investigators’ questions when he was taken into custody, Clements said, but investigators could “only assume” he tried to get his paycheck so he could use the money to escape arrest.
Shewmaker was jailed at the Marion County Detention Center on a $500,000 bond. The bond was raised to $1 million Monday at arraignment in Marion County District Court, Clements said. He was charged with murder - domestic violence, wanton endangerment of a police officer, speeding, evading police and driving on a suspended or revoked license, according to jail records.
Since her death, Anderson’s family has received a “remarkable” outpouring of support from people who wanted to offer their condolences, Keegan said.
“I think my sister died having no idea how many people knew her and cared about her,” she said.
This story was originally published October 6, 2020 at 8:47 AM.