Ranae Ann Chupick Remembered as Beautiful, Vibrant as Her Murderer is Sent to Prison

In Oakland County Circuit Court on Wednesday, a grieving mother described her daughter, who was 41 years old at the time of her death, as a beautiful, vibrant woman, a talented beautician and an undiscovered artist.

"She had a heart of gold," said Sheila Adams, the mother of Ranae Ann Chupick of Royal Oak, who was  on Rochester Road on the night of Sept. 18-19.

A shaken and tearful Adams described her daughter to Oakland County Chief Circuit Judge Nanci Grant at the sentencing hearing of Christopher Michael Hearn, 24, of Clinton Township. Hearn March 5 to second-degree murder.

"Today was the hardest day of my life," Adams said by phone Wednesday evening. The 67-year-old Lake Orion woman said she has been suffering from anxiety attacks since the murder of the younger of her two daughters.

On the evening of Sept. 19, Adams received a phone call from her former son-in-law, Bob Chupick. "He told me, 'Ranae is in her apartment. She is there but she is not there,'" Adams said. "I knew she was dead. I wondered if she OD'd."

Chupick was a "partier" who "liked to have a good time" said Adams, who admitted her daughter had her faults. But she also said her daughter was "so loving," describing Chupick as "huggy-kissy."

"If you ran into her and asked her for $10 for gas, she would not think twice about it. She would give you the $10," said Adams, adding that her daughter also worked at soup kitchens from time to time.

Chupick herself was a mother. She is survived by a 17-year-old son, Jacob, who Adams says has many paintings created by Chupick to remember her by.

"She loved to paint. She was excellent, a natural artist," Adam said. "And she was a very talented hairdresser. She always looked her best. She was a sharp dresser and never left the house without makeup on. She took good care of herself. She was 41, but she looked 21."

The last time Adams talked to her daughter was at 9:30 p.m. Sept. 18. The two women were making arrangements to meet each other in Royal Oak, so Adams could see Chupick's new Royal Oak apartment.

"I hadn't seen her new apartment. She was fixing it up and she wanted me to wait until she was finished before I saw it. She was really happy with it," she said.

When Adams finally saw the apartment, it was to gather her daughter's belongings after her death. "I saw blood on the walls and on the floor where she died," she said. "We had to walk around it while we were getting her things."

Adams is somehow managing to get on with her life after her daughter's tragic death. She says the funeral and the trial have kept her mind busy, but she worries for her grandson.

"Jake is going to have a very hard time with this," Adams said. "Sometimes I look at pictures of Ranae and I yell at her. I scream 'You will not be at your son's graduation. You will not be at his wedding.' "

Chupick's character flaw, according to her mother, was that she only saw the good in people.

"I believe this flaw led to her death," Adams said. "I believe she had enough information to know what kind of person Christopher Hearn really was, but she chose not to see it."

Adams said both her daughter and Hearn behaved like "idiots" last September.

"Whatever happened that night was just a stupid thing between two people who were behaving stupid," she said. "And Ranae lost; Chris lost; his parents lost; Jake lost and I lost."

In court Wednesday, to Chupick's family and begged for their forgiveness. "I am not a monster," he said sobbing.

"I believed him. I think he knows he did something wrong," Adams said. "I honestly felt like he was sorry for what he did. When he was crying, I was crying, too."

Adams said she wanted wanted to approach Hearn after the hearing ended, but did not. She said she would still like to meet him and ask him about her daughter's death.

"I have no clue why they got together that night," she said, but she would like to know.

While Adams says she has never spoken to Hearn, . The two women embraced. Adams said she wanted the family to know she did not hate them. "If that was my son I would be devastated," she said. "I know they are hurting, too."

Adams said she was grateful to Hearn for pleading no contest and sparing her family a trial that would have "dragged Ranae through the mud."

"I am hoping Ranae is in a better place," Adams said. She likes to imagine her daughter in heaven with The Doors lead singer Jim Morrison. "She is probably giving him highlights right now."