Mt. Lebanon Woman's Character Full Of Fighting Spirit

During her senior year at the University of Pittsburgh-Johnstown in 1994, Jody Billingsley walked into her basketball coaches' office with her face cut, discolored and swollen from a serious car crash. "I'm really bad," she told her coaches, "but I'm going to play." True to her word, Billingsley strapped on a protective mask and never missed a game.

"That was the kind of kid she was," said Pitt-Johnstown's former coach Jodi Gault, who kept a picture of Billingsley's swollen face on her desk to inspire recruits. "She was a winner. You don't find those kinds of kids anymore."

Billingsley, 37, of Mt. Lebanon died Tuesday night at the LA Fitness center in Collier from a bullet wound in the upper back and perforated thoracic aorta, the Medical Examiner's Office said. Funeral arrangements are being handled by Timothy Hartle Funeral Home in Franklin, Venango County.

Link: www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/pittsburgh/s_636936.html

Lebo Resident Among Shooting Victims

All of Mt. Lebanon mourns the victims of last night's tragedy in Collier, including Lebo resident Jody Billingsley, who was identified today as one of three women killed in the attack.

Link: www.postgazette.com/pg/09217/988738-100.stm