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Fiancee can take Bell's name, judge says

BY CARL MACGOWAN | Newsday Staff Writer

December 9, 2006

They never had the chance to exchange wedding vows. But Nicole Paultre still may bear Sean Bell's name.

New York City Civil Court Judge Kathy King on Thursday signed an order permitting Paultre to use the last name of her fiance, who was shot and killed Nov. 25 by police just hours before the couple was to be married. The judge's order was reported Friday on the Web site of Essence magazine.

Paultre's lawyer, Sanford Rubenstein of Brooklyn, said Friday that the order must be published within 90 days and affidavits must be filed before she can formally take Bell's name.

Rubenstein said the order would be published on Monday.

"I was speechless," Paultre, 22, told the magazine after the judge approved her request. "It's a great feeling. This is what we wanted. This is in honor of his name."

Bell, 23, of Far Rockaway, was killed in a barrage of police gunfire near a Jamaica strip club after his bachelor party. Two friends, Trent Benefield, 23, and Joseph Guzman, 31, were injured. The men were unarmed.

The circumstances of the shooting, which involved five cops, remain unclear and it is under investigation by the Queens district attorney's office.

Other officers at the scene and witnesses have said they saw a fourth man, who may have been armed, at the scene. Both Benefield and Guzman, however, have told investigators that no one else was with them.

In an interview with the magazine, Paultre recalled her final conversation with her high school sweetheart and revealed how she broke the news of Bell's death to their 3-year-old daughter, Jada. The couple also has a 5-month-old daughter, Jordyn.

"When Jada's father passed away, I told her, 'Jada, Daddy's in heaven, and he's an angel,'" Paultre said. "It's hard for her to understand, but every once in a while she looks up in the sky and she waves to Daddy."

Paultre said she was preparing for her bridal shower on Nov. 24 when she and Bell spoke on the phone for the last time.

"He told me he wasn't sure if he was going to go out. And at the last minute, he did change his mind, so he did go out," Paultre said. "And that was it. We told each other we loved each other, as we always ended our conversations on the phone. 'I love you.' 'I love you, too.'

"That was the last conversation we had."