I followed this sad S. Cal. story in the newspapers for the four years between the murder and the sentencing and obtained this book from the library on the basis of a favorable review in the LA Times as I am interested in the teacher who I feel added 'fuel to the flames' by giving the deceased a dress as well as the situation of the school and teachers today.
However, there is no index, no preface, no list of chapters, no footnotes, i.e. this is an unscholarly book, by a scholar, despite the rave reviews by prominent people on the back of the dust jacket. In an hour's read, I did find one chapter about the 'green dress' as it was introduced during testimony during the trial. Elsewhere I found that the 14 year old who killed his 15 year old classmate with premeditation has never to this day admitted his guilt. There was a hung jury for the first trial and a deal made to avoid the second trial that satisfied neither those who pointed out it was premeditated murder nor those who are tired of youths being tried in adult court.
Dr. Corbett spent a lot of time in Ventura County on this matter and in preparation for this book, but offers few conclusions--he seems endlessly wishy-washy but a case can be made that there are few certain facts to be listed, the character of the oceanside neighborhood where the accused resided offering a good example. On the basis of not reading the whole book, I found no definite information on how much or how little the decedent teased the perp. Dr. Corbett considers the testimony of a school administrator at great length, damning her and the rest of the educational professionals at the school for not knowing how to handle a boy who had strong LGBT leanings. His position is very clear.
If you are interested in the problems of junior high school kids who don't fit the 'norm,' of youth tried as adults, etc. don't waste your time with 'A Murder Over a Girl.' It is loaded with Ivory Tower bs: "Even more telling is the intimacy expressed in Leticia's [the deceased 15 year old had begun using that name] complaint to Mr. Davis that the boys forgot to put the toilet seat up. This raw detail, skin to clammy seat, brings us closer to Leticia's fleshly body and genital experience. What body was she seeking to find through this daily experience? What did she imagine as she began to shape her body by shaving her pubic hair (yet more fleshly, yet more naked) as I leaned she had when I read the coroner's report? We don't know how these fantasies and embodiments may have ended (166)."
However, there is no index, no preface, no list of chapters, no footnotes, i.e. this is an unscholarly book, by a scholar, despite the rave reviews by prominent people on the back of the dust jacket. In an hour's read, I did find one chapter about the 'green dress' as it was introduced during testimony during the trial. Elsewhere I found that the 14 year old who killed his 15 year old classmate with premeditation has never to this day admitted his guilt. There was a hung jury for the first trial and a deal made to avoid the second trial that satisfied neither those who pointed out it was premeditated murder nor those who are tired of youths being tried in adult court.
Dr. Corbett spent a lot of time in Ventura County on this matter and in preparation for this book, but offers few conclusions--he seems endlessly wishy-washy but a case can be made that there are few certain facts to be listed, the character of the oceanside neighborhood where the accused resided offering a good example. On the basis of not reading the whole book, I found no definite information on how much or how little the decedent teased the perp. Dr. Corbett considers the testimony of a school administrator at great length, damning her and the rest of the educational professionals at the school for not knowing how to handle a boy who had strong LGBT leanings. His position is very clear.
If you are interested in the problems of junior high school kids who don't fit the 'norm,' of youth tried as adults, etc. don't waste your time with 'A Murder Over a Girl.' It is loaded with Ivory Tower bs: "Even more telling is the intimacy expressed in Leticia's [the deceased 15 year old had begun using that name] complaint to Mr. Davis that the boys forgot to put the toilet seat up. This raw detail, skin to clammy seat, brings us closer to Leticia's fleshly body and genital experience. What body was she seeking to find through this daily experience? What did she imagine as she began to shape her body by shaving her pubic hair (yet more fleshly, yet more naked) as I leaned she had when I read the coroner's report? We don't know how these fantasies and embodiments may have ended (166)."
