Charlie Keever
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Charlie Keever was a thirteen-year-old boy who was murdered on March 27, 1993 in San Diego County, California along with his friend, nine-year-old Jonathan Sellers. The murder remained unsolved for nearly nine years. Charlie was the youngest of three children, he was born sometime in 1980. Charlie's father and two grandparents all died without ever knowing who killed their son and grandson. Charlie's mother, Maria Keever, took it upon herself to investigate her youngest child's murder. Maria would call the police two or three times a day asking for or giving possible tips that may lead to the killer. Her persistence, however, took an emotional toll on her. Her husband had too many health problems and combined with her grief for her youngest son, her life almost fell apart. She distanced herself from her older children, who told her to leave the investigation to the police.
[edit] The murder
On Saturday March 27, 1993, Charlie and Jonathan's elder brother, Alton Williams, decided to spend the day bike riding. However, a last minute change of plan had Alton staying behind and Jonathan decided to go with Charlie instead. Jennifer, Jonathan's twin sister, also wanted to go along but Jonathan said he didn't want a girl tagging along so she remained at home. Around noon, Jonathan and Charlie departed on their bikes and went to a local fast food joint to buy lunch. Afterwards, the two boys went over to the nearby pet store and played with some of the dogs and cats. They also chatted with the manager and customers. The boys left the store and were never seen alive again. Police surmise that somewhere along their bike ride the boys encountered Scott Erskine, a man with a long history of violent sexual assaults against adults and children. Erskine lured the children along the bed of the Otay River and took them to a make-shift fort made out of brush. There Erskine raped, molested, and tortured both boys to death.
On Monday Charlie Keever and Jonathan Sellers were discovered by a bike rider. The scene was gruesome. Jonathan was found hanging by a low caster bean tree branch. His legs and arms bound, he was half naked. He had a rope wrapped tightly around his neck, and his genitals were damaged. Charlie was the same but only lying on the ground, his head on top of his and Jonathan's clothing. His genitals were bloodied and showed extensive bite marks. His autopsy report concluded he was alive when the bite marks were inflicted on him. Without teeth impressions to compare with the bite marks did little in the preliminary investigation. However, the killer did leave his DNA inside Charlie's mouth. This mistake was the key in finding the murderer.
[edit] Conclusion
In March 2001, a cold hit came back identifying Scott Erskine as his DNA found in Charlie Keever's body. Erskine was already in jail for a rape he committed 6 months after the boys were murdered. Erskine went to trial, in 2003, and was found guilty. However, one juror did not want to give Erskine the death penalty so the judge declared a mistrial for the penalty phase portion of the trial. In April 2004 a new jury panel was reconvened. This time they voted unanimously to send the child killer to death for a brutal homicide. September 1, 2004 a California judge sentenced Scott Erskine to death row. He was transported to San Quentin State Prison 6 days later. If still alive in 2006, Charlie would have been twenty-six years old.
