Free Republic

Judge: Harris knew 'exactly what he was doing' when he struck fatal blows LANCASTER - In a packed but eerily quiet courtroom, Lancaster juvenile court judge Richard E. Naranjo sentenced 13-year-old Greg Harris to a possible maximum 12-year term Thursday for the second-degree murder of 15-year-old Jeremy Rourke. The judge looked directly at the defendant, who appeared small in the courtroom chair, with chains around his ankles. The judge, his voice at times cracking with emotion, referred to the swing with an aluminum bat that Harris landed on Rourke's skull following what prosecutors referred to as innocent ribbing. "I still...

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...

LOS ANGELES - A 13-year-old pitcher was charged Thursday with murder for allegedly beating another boy to death with a baseball bat following his team's first loss of the season. AP Photos The alleged assailant is accused of striking 15-year-old Jeremy Rourke in the knee and again in the head after the youth league game Tuesday evening, said Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney Ron Smalstig. The 13-year-old and the older boy apparently had words in front of a concession stand at the Pony League park in Palmdale, about 40 miles northeast of Los Angeles. The accused youth will be...