Rene Denfeld - All Gods Children: Inside the Dark and Violent World of Street Families

I n the summer of 1992, I became aware of a group of street kids squatting under a bridge in downtown Portland, Oregon. I lived only a short walk from their camp.

As a young reporter, I was curious about the group and visited their squat several times. I observed the kids as they roamed the neighborhood, panhandling. Among them was a boy with longish brown hair and a square face, known on the streets as Highlander. His real name was James Daniel Nelson, and he was just sixteen.

One day in August 1992, as I walked down toward the squat, I noticed police. There was James Nelson, showing detectives the crime scene of his first murder. The newspaper I worked for at the time covered the case. Among the documents we collected were then confidential police interviews, photographs, and autopsy reports.

Ten years passed. I wrote two books, and my partner and I adopted three children from the state foster-care system. I also kept tabs on the street culture and watched as the society these youths created grew and expanded.

One day in June 2003, I opened the daily paper. There was the boy I knew as Highlanderonly now he was twenty-seven, and he had killed again. Along with his name were those of twelve other street kids. Their victim was a sweet-faced young woman who had a lot in common with my children: she had a terrible beginning with foster care but had been adopted by a family who loved her deeply. It would turn out that her parents even shared the same caseworker, Beth Girard, as one of my children.

In my home office, I opened the boxes with the street kid research inside, going all the way back to 1992. I pulled out photographs of the square-faced Highlander and the grimy camp he had called home: Checkpoint Charlie. I remembered what it had been like to be a twenty-four-year-old reporter, visiting that squalid squat. And here we were, nearly eleven years later.

But this book is not about my history with this case. This authors note is all you will read about my intersections with James Daniel Nelson. This book focuses on a much more important subject: the phenomenon of street families.

Over the years, I have interviewed many street kids, including James Daniel Nelson. I have crawled through squats on my hands and knees, and I have listened as the street kids shared with me their lives and their codes of justice. I have visited the accused in prisons, jails, and mental hospitals. I have collected studies, shelter reports, and statistics. I have interviewed police, detectives, district attorneys, defense attorneys, social workers, counselors, investigators, families, victims, anthropologists, criminologists, and sociologistsanyone who could lend insight into the street kid culture. Not all the names of those who contributed to my knowledge made their way into this book, but I greatly appreciated their help.

Because of the nature of this subject, I made efforts to verify claims as much as I could. When told of the assaults on Sara Baerlocher, for instance, stories recounted in these pages, I confirmed the events with the victim, the district attorney, police, and some of the youths involved. In some instances, this verification process was difficult or impossible. I have tried to indicate when a story or allegation is based on a single persons account.

A few notes about my methods: this book is not fictionalized. Dialogue is either taken directly from the person quoted or as recalled by witnesses. This book is not based on a true story. I have tried to ensure that it is a true story.

The reader should know that this book contains details of graphic violence. I wrestled with this as a writer. I did not want to sensationalize crimes. Finally, I shared my feelings with a police officer involved in the case. He replied, If you just say she was beaten,then that isn t really the truth. Tell the truth. The truth is that these are not crimes of passion. They are, for the most part, organized, elaborate, and brutally sadistic.

Every book is a collaborative effort; the writer is only the vehicle for an idea. I was blessed with the trust of many involved in this story, even when it pained them to speak or when they knew their behavior was beyond explanation. Others were gracious enough to take time from their professional schedules to help me with my research.

Without the help of the following people, this book would never have come into being. I owe the utmost thanks to Becky and Sam Williams, Multnomah County district attorney Norm Frink, Portland Police homicide detective Barry Renna, Multnomah County district attorney Robert Leineweber, Attorney Timothy Dunn, Portland police officer Anthony Merrill, Portland Police criminal intelligence investigator Matthew McDonald, Attorney Steven Krasik, Portland Police homicide detective Rich Austria, Portland Police commander and detective Larry Findling (retired), Portland Police sergeant George Burke, Attorney Mark Cross, Portland Police criminal intelligence investigator Stephanie DeKoeyer, Portland Police public information officer Gregory Pashley, Attorney Kirk Roberts, Portland Police records manager Debbie Haugen, Portland Police programs specialist, Records Division, Veronica Nordeen, legal investigator Sandra Gillman, assistant to the district attorney Jill Chedister, anthropologist Marni Finkelstein, Larkin Street director of older youth services Sarah Porter, youth consultant Jerry Fest, Janus Youth Access and Reception Center manager Favor Ellis, Outside In executive director Kathy Oliver, San Francisco Chronicle reporter Kevin Fagan, Robyn and Ken Hale, Kelly White, Portland State University associate professor of sociology Dr. Randy Blazak, Connie Moore, Portland State University professor of black studies Dr. Darrell Millner, author John Hagan, foster-care transition specialist Ginger Edwards, Portland City Club research director Wade Fickler, documentary filmmaker Kristen Zuhl, fetal alcohol syndrome specialist Diane Malbin, author Sherrie Eldridge, Foster-Works director Fred Krug, reporter Mike Magrath, security guard Andrea Timm, investigator Steve Tyler, Rob Taylor, Union Pacific conductor Randy Russ, video specialist Aaron Eugene, KUFO night host Cort Webber, warehouse worker Brock, adoptive parent and legal aid attorney Julie Stevens, author Todd Grimson, Debbie and Jamie Alberts, Mary and Larry Bright, and the patient staff at the filing room of the Multnomah County Courthouse. I owe a very special thanks to