Posted on 05/03/2005 9:20:23 AM PDT by lainie
Rourkes mourn their slain son
Harris enters not guilty plea in bat death
This story appeared in the Antelope Valley Press on Tuesday, May 3, 2005.
By JACQUELINE KALLAS, Valley Press Staff Writer
SYLMAR - Shortly after 13-year-old Greg Harris entered a denial to one count of murder in connection with the baseball bat beating death of 15-year-old acquaintance Jeremy Rourke, the slain boy's father stood on the steps outside the Sylmar Juvenile Court to speak of the family's loss.
Jeremy, a boy who loved baseball and died at a ballpark, "will never be able to finish high school or college," west Palmdale resident Brian Rourke said.
"He'll never start a family or any other things that the suspect will have the opportunity to do. In fact, our son will never see his 16th birthday," said Rourke, who wore a T-shirt with Jeremy's picture on it.
Initially, the visibly bereaved Rourke said, "we were in shock and under the impression that (Greg, who was identified publicly at a vigil for the victim on April 13) would be tried as an adult."
Learning that the suspect in his son's murder will be tried as a juvenile, since children under 14 cannot stand trial as adults under California law, Rourke said, "We feel that the maximum penalty of 12 years is more than fair."
At 25 years old, Harris will be able to return to life outside incarceration, while his son will never have that chance, he said.
Jeremy was struck once in the knee and once in the head following a dispute at the Palmdale Pony League field shortly before 8:30 p.m. April 12. He died several hours later at a local hospital.
Jeremy Rourke, a junior umpire for the league, was at the 20th Street East field that night to watch his younger brother play and to help his sister at the concession stand. His brother reportedly was competing in a game between the alleged assailant's undefeated Angels and the last-place Dodgers. The Angels lost the game.
About a half hour after the game ended, Rourke, who attended Highland High as a freshman, and the suspect, who was enrolled at Cactus Elementary School, apparently got into an argument near the snack bar.
Homicide detectives would not confirm what caused the dispute, but witnesses said Rourke teased Harris, a pitcher, about his team's first loss, in the final game of the season, to the worst squad in the league.
Witnesses reported the boys began pushing each other, and at one point the suspect pulled an aluminum bat from his bag and hit Rourke in the knee. Rourke doubled over, they said, and the suspect swung again, hitting him in the head.
Rourke's father and other bystanders, who would later say the violence broke out so quickly they had no time to stop it, rushed to the unconscious boy.
Someone called 911, and paramedics transported the teen by ambulance to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 10:15 p.m.
"I don't think that anyone rational should ever act that way," Jeremy's mother, Angela Rourke, had said in a previous statement.
"We know it was not a spur-of-the-moment thing," Brian said. "From what it was described to me, it was more of an act that took extra thought to happen."
At Monday's hearing, which was the juvenile equivalent of an adult arraignment, the families of both boys sat silently while the defendant, a slight boy weighing perhaps less than 100 pounds, entered Department 276, which looked more like a conference room than a courtroom, to enter his denial to the charge. He appeared in a white T-shirt and blue jeans and without handcuffs.
In the proceeding, lasting less than five minutes, Harris' defense counsel, William McKinney, asked Commissioner Jack Gold to transfer the case to the Lancaster juvenile court facility for a pretrial hearing on May 24 - a request the jurist granted.
In the interim, court authorities said Harris will remain in custody at a juvenile detention facility, its location to remain confidential due to the extensive publicity surrounding the case.
If the murder charge is found to be true, Harris could receive a sentence ranging from probation to commitment at the California Youth Authority until he turns 21, Deputy District Attorney Lonnie Felker said. If at that time the defendant represents a danger to himself or to society, Felker said, authorities could hold him until he's 25.
The slain boy's father said he wants to ensure that Jeremy did not die in vain. He said he eventually wants to create a foundation "that will hopefully educate parents and kids alike on the need to eliminate useless violence in youth sports."
The former Pony League all-star who dreamed of playing major league baseball one day "was a bright, passionate young man who was really moving ahead in his life at the time of this accident," stated his parents.
"We are left with wonderful, dynamic memories of a caring young man with great potential."
jkallas@avpress.com
My bet is that the killer has a history that could have at least suggested that he'd end up doing something like this. Any one have facts?
Did or didn't he hit the victim in the head with a baseball bat?
I'd like more details about the fight before rushing to judgement. We have a 15 year old high school kid getting into a fight with a skinny 13 year old elementary school student. If the older kid picked the fight and was beating the crap out of the younger boy, I can understand why he'd pull a weapon to defend himself (I did the same thing once and broke the other kids knee). If the 13 year old provoked it or just pulled the bat and attacked the other kid, then he gets no sympathy and I hope he's locked up for a long time.
The greatest tragedy here is that two kids lives were ended here, not one.
Gobs of people saw him do it. Can't answer you, except to say this is the way things are done in modern-day American courts.
It's the latter. The 13-year-old pulled the bat after having been teased verbally, according to witnesses.
I haven't seen any reports about the kid's history or any propensity toward violence in the past. As a parent, I have to say it's obvious he was raised not to respect life as much as some other kids do.
And for no good reason. It was all for nothing!
According to the text of the article: "Witnesses reported the boys began pushing each other, and at one point the suspect pulled an aluminum bat from his bag and hit Rourke in the knee. Rourke doubled over, they said, and the suspect swung again, hitting him in the head."
(steely)
Brings the "Bad News Bears" to mind when the yankee players put ketchup in Lupus' hat and stuffed Tanner in the trashed can.
The problem with pleading guilty would not allow any appeals. If you plead innocent you then have rights to appeal the verdict.
Regards,
Jane
So far, I see no evidence on this point, one way or the other.
Some of us have been following the details since it happened (I live here locally). I've seen so many eyewitness accounts on this, it's a given for me now. There are numerous stories posted about it already.
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