Winnefox Library System

Little, crazy children, a true crime tragedy, James Renner

eng

individual biography

illustrations

no index present

non fiction

Little, crazy children

1374487424

James Renner

a true crime tragedy

"In September of 1990, in the Cleveland suburb of Shaker Heights, sixteen-year-old Lisa Pruett was on her way to a midnight tryst with her boyfriend when she was viciously stabbed to death only thirty feet from the boy's home. The murder cast a palpable gloom over the upscale community and sparked accusations, theories, and rumors among Lisa's friends and peers. Together they wove a damning narrative that circled back to a likely suspect: "weird" high school outcast Kevin Young. Without a shred of evidence the teen was arrested, charged, and tried for the crime. His eventual acquittal didn't diminish the anger and outrage among those who believed that Kevin got away with murder. With a fresh perspective and painstaking research culled from police files, court records, transcripts, uncollected evidence, and new interviews, James Renner reconstructs the events leading up to and following that heartbreaking night. What emerges is a portrait of a community seething with dark undercurrents--its single-minded authorities, protective status-conscious parents, and the deeply peer-pressured teen within Lisa's circle. Who had the capacity for such unchecked violence? What monsters still lurk in the dark? After more than thirty years, questions like these continue to fester among the community of Shaker Heights, Ohio, still deeply scarred by wounds that remain hidden, unspoken, and unhealed"--Dust jacket flap

Prologue -- I. Investigation. On Shaker Heights -- The bike in the bushes -- Night visitors -- The boyfriend -- The said Lisa Lee -- The old man -- They call him "Text" -- The echo of a scream -- Have you talked to Kevin? -- The night season -- The dark hallway -- We're both crazy -- Don't kill the messenger -- School ties -- Theories -- The girl next door -- Breaking Kevin Young -- Return to Shaker -- History repeats -- Big fish -- Shoe leather -- Gods don't like to be ignored -- Proper protection -- We lost Feagler -- New blood -- II. Trial. To speak the truth -- Openings -- The black glove cult -- I stand corrected -- The dog that didn't bark -- Confidant -- A story for David Lynch -- The runaway juror -- The AP posse rides again -- Shades of gray -- The curious confession -- The final witness -- The mosaic -- Forget it, Jake, it's Shaker Heights -- The verdict -- III. Judgment. I hear you paint houses -- The serious problem of Internet sleuths -- Time enough at last -- Socially distant -- Reason and lack thereof -- Where are they now? -- The reluctant foreman -- His own worst enemy -- Somebody else was there -- The long and winding road to Chipotle -- The said David Branagan -- The growing unease -- The state rests -- A new mosaic

adult