The Herald, Sharon, Pa.

Local News

September 9, 2009

UPDATE: Benefit for shooting victim, 29, to include prizes, tunes, food

Event set for Sept. 19

By Monica Pryts

JAMESTOWN — A benefit is set for Sept. 19 in Jamestown to raise money for Andy Eschrich, the 29-year-old Greenville man recovering from a gunshot wound.

The event will be at the Jamestown Firemen’s Club and will start at noon, when people can drop off donated items for a raffle and Chinese auction or buy tickets for those prizes, said Karen Dietrich of Jamestown, who is organizing the benefit.

Mrs. Dietrich manages the Jamestown-area band Andalusian, which is headed up by her husband Brian. While Eschrich has lived in Greenville for only half a year, he and his fiancee Mandy Sue Johnston have become big fans and fast friends with the band, Mrs. Dietrich said Wednesday.

“Andy was one of those people,” she said of his following the band, which plays mainly dance rock but also “a little bit of everything.”

Eschrich, of 20 N. Second St., who has no health insurance, needs help paying medical bills stemming from the July 28 shooting outside his home. All proceeds from the benefit will go to Eschrich, Mrs. Dietrich said.

The benefit also includes: haircuts for $5 and manicures for $3 from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. with services provided by two local beauticians; a three-course spaghetti dinner at 5:30 p.m.; a DJ and karaoke; and live music by Andalusian and other bands at 9:30 p.m.

Admission is $8 and includes dinner and music and a cash bar will be available, she said, adding families are welcome.

“Andy’s our friend. That’s why we’re doing it,” Mrs. Dietrich said.

Ms. Johnston told the Dietrich family that Eschrich has been asking about Andalusian while he recovers at UPMC Presbyterian, Pittsburgh.

“We’re his favorite band,” Mrs. Dietrich said.

Eschrich is doing “50 percent better” compared to his very critical condition in the weeks after the shooting, she said.

Eschrich’s sister-in-law Pam Eschrich of Mount Jewett told The Herald on Aug. 31 he was able to breathe on his own a week earlier and still needed dialysis because of damage to his liver and kidneys.

Eschrich’s family in Mount Jewett, where he lived before moving to Greenville with his two children and Ms. Johnston’s four children, had also had fundraisers for him and collected about $3,000.

Robert Leroy Martin, 57, Emporium, Pa., was charged with the shooting and is in Mercer County Jail awaiting a hearing in the Mercer County Court of Common Pleas.

Police have said Eschrich went outside early July 28 to check Ms. Johnston’s car, which was on fire behind their home. That’s when Martin shot him in the abdomen, police said. Martin was also charged with arson.

The mother of Eschrich’s children is Martin’s wife, Maria Martin. Police said Eschrich and Ms. Johnston were supposed to take some of the children to be interviewed the day of the shooting about sexual abuse allegations against Martin.



For more information about the benefit, e-mail Mrs. Dietrich at klfarm2000@yahoo.com

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