Delco doctor gets 52 years for shooting ex-companion

Margaret Grover pleaded with the Delaware County judge to give her former companion - an emergency-room pediatrician - the maximum sentence for shooting her in the presence of their children during a child-custody exchange.

"She's not done," Grover said, dissolving into tears. "She won't be done until I'm dead."

Judge Michael F.X. Coll assented, and on Tuesday sentenced Lauren Patricia Daly to up to 52 years in prison for wounding Grover and endangering the life of their son, now 12.

Daly, 43, of Middletown Township, was convicted in July after a two-week trial on charges of attempted first-degree murder, reckless endangerment, and related crimes. She was ordered to have no contact with Grover or their son and pay $8,800 in restitution for medical and counseling bills.

The slight, bespectacled 5-foot-3 Daly, dressed in red prison scrubs over a long-sleeve T-shirt and shivering in the chilly courtroom, did not address the court.

Coll said that Daly's contention during trial that she acted in self-defense when Grover tried to run her over was "an absurd fantasy" and called her an "extremely dangerous person."

On Memorial Day 2013, Daly fired three shots through the windshield of a car, hitting Grover. The victim was shielding the couple's son, who was sitting in the passenger seat. The couple's 9-year-old daughter was outside the car. The children were not injured, according to court records.

Grover, 50, of Wynnewood, who was shot in the face, chest, and stomach, has since recovered.

Grover had driven to Daly's home to drop off their daughter. When Daly, who worked for the Nemours Alfred I. du Pont Hospital for Children, in Wilmington, asked to speak with their son, Grover said she needed to call first. The two quarreled, and Daly fired shots from a 9mm pistol.

Prosecutor Mary Mann said that Daly had planned the attack carefully, even writing out details. Daly bought a gun, practiced on a firing range, and had the weapon cocked when she went out to the car, Mann said.

"The only reason she stopped firing was [the gun] jammed," Mann said. "She intended to use every bullet in that gun."

The couple had a history of domestic violence, Mann said. In April 2013, Grover was seen at a local hospital for injuries after being kicked by Daly.

Lisa Kane Brown, a guardian appointed by Montgomery County for the children, said the two were "doing unbelievably well" and are in counseling.

She said that during a custody hearing after the shooting, Daly became so upset that the judge hit a panic button to summon several deputies. All were needed to remove the struggling and screaming Daly from the courtroom.

Defense attorney Michael Malloy read a character letter from Kate Brennan, a friend of Daly's.

Brennan said in her statement that Daly was a good and kind person and reliable friend who helped Brennan's family when her nephew was diagnosed with a bone disease. "Lauren is gifted with children," Brennan wrote. "She makes the horror of a hospital visit seem not so bad."

Malloy said at times the case was more about domestic issues than criminal.

"This has been a sad case from the beginning for both sides," he said.