Girlfriend: I Felt Safe With Face-Eater

The woman who dated the Miami man shot to death by a police officer as he chewed off a vagrant's face said she always felt "safe" with him. Rudy Eugene, 31, was religious, never violent, and the strongest drug he used was pot, insisted Yovanka Bryant, who dated Eugene in the four months leading up to the attack. Her beau was a Christian, but also curious about the Muslim faith, Bryant revealed at a Florida news conference. “He would never leave without it, his Bible, and his Koran was always by his side,” Bryant said. The two often watched a religious ministry program in the morning. “I felt safe with Rudy,” she added. “He was happy. I wish the public knew Rudy the way I did."

Bryant—who's not the same woman quoted anonymously in the Miami Herald last month— last heard from him in a text the day before the gruesome Miami attack. She refused to reveal the contents of the message, but said there was no indication anything was amiss. She suspects someone may have slipped a drug to Eugene. Officials believe he may have been high on bath salts that have an LSD-like effect. His Bible was discovered at the scene of the attack and marijuana was found in his system, reports WTSP-TV in Miami. But full toxicology reports from Eugene's autopsy are still pending. Victim Ron Poppo, 65, remains hospitalized with serious injuries. (More Ron Poppo stories.)