Even on Religious Campuses, Students Fight for Gay Identity
Taylor Schmitt, center, attends Abilene Christian University. Ben Sklar for The New York Times
Samantha A. Jones, left, and her girlfriend, Saralyn Salisbury, are part of an informal gay student group at Baylor University. Ben Sklar for The New York Times
Adam Short tried at Baylor to gain campus recognition of a club whose goal is to discuss sexuality and fight homophobia. Ben Sklar for The New York Times
Mr. Short, a freshman engineering student, wears a rainbow bracelet to support gay rights on the campus in Waco, Tex. Ben Sklar for The New York Times
By ERIK ECKHOLM Published: April 18, 2011
WACO, Tex. — Battles for acceptance by gay and lesbian students have erupted in the places that expect it the least: the scores of Bible colleges and evangelical Christian universities that, in their founding beliefs, see homosexuality as a sin.
Decades after the gay rights movement swept the country’s secular schools, more gays and lesbians at Christian colleges are starting to come out of the closet, demanding a right to proclaim their identities and form campus clubs, and rejecting suggestions to seek help in suppressing homosexual desires.
Many of the newly assertive students grew up as Christians and developed a sense of their sexual identities only after starting college, and after years of inner torment. They spring from a new generation of evangelical youths that, over all, holds far less harsh views of homosexuality than its elders.
But in their efforts to assert themselves, whether in campus clubs or more publicly on Facebook, gay students are running up against administrators who defend what they describe as God’s law on sexual morality, and who must also answer to conservative trustees and alumni.
Facing vague prohibitions against “homosexual behavior,” many students worry about what steps — holding hands with a partner, say, or posting a photograph on a gay Web site — could jeopardize scholarships or risk expulsion.
“It’s like an unstoppable force meeting an immovable object,” said Adam R. Short, a freshman engineering student at Baylor University [ http://www.baylor.edu/ (and see {items linked in} http://investorshub.advfn.com/boards/read_msg.aspx?message_id=53143722 and preceding and following)] who is openly gay and has fought, without success, for campus recognition of a club to discuss sexuality and fight homophobia.
A few more liberal religious colleges, like Belmont University [ http://www.belmont.edu/ ] in Nashville, which has Baptist origins, have reluctantly allowed the formation of gay student groups, in Belmont’s case after years of heated debate, and soon after the university had forced a lesbian soccer coach to resign.
But the more typical response has come from Baylor, which with 15,000 students is the country’s largest Baptist university, and which has refused to approve the sexuality forum.
“Baylor expects students not to participate in advocacy groups promoting an understanding of sexuality that is contrary to biblical teaching,” said Lori Fogleman, a university spokeswoman.
Despite the rebuff, more than 50 students continue to hold weekly gatherings of their Sexual Identity Forum [ http://www.sifembears.com/ ], and will keep seeking the moral validation that would come with formal status, said Samantha A. Jones, a senior and president of the group.
“The student body at large is ready for this,” said Saralyn Salisbury, Ms. Jones’s girlfriend and also a senior at Baylor. “But not the administration and the Regents.”
At Abilene Christian University [ http://www.acu.edu/ ] in Texas, several students are openly gay, and many more are pushing for change behind the scenes. Last spring, the university refused to allow formation of a Gay-Straight Alliance.
“We want to engage these complex issues, and to give help and guidance to students who are struggling with same-sex attraction,” said Jean-Noel Thompson, the university’s vice president for student life. “But we are not going to embrace any advocacy for gay identity.”
At Harding University [ http://www.harding.edu/ ] in Arkansas, which like Abilene Christian is affiliated with the Churches of Christ [ http://church-of-christ.org/ ], half a dozen current and former students posted an online magazine [ http://huqueerpress.com/ ] in early March featuring personal accounts of the travails of gay students. The university blocked access to the site on the university’s Internet server, which helped cause the site to go viral in the world of religious universities.
At chapel, Harding’s president, David B. Burks, told students
[ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qKNze-C3uk ] that “we are not trying to control your thinking,” but that “it was important for us to block the Web site because of what it says about Harding, who we are, and what we believe.” Mr. Burks called the site’s very name, huqueerpress.com [ http://huqueerpress.com/ ], offensive.
Most evangelical colleges say they do not discipline students who admit to same-sex attractions — only those who engage in homosexual “behavior” or “activity.” (On evangelical campuses, sexual intercourse outside marriage is forbidden for everyone.)
Abilene Christian sees a big difference, Mr. Thompson said, between a student who is struggling privately with same-sex feelings, and “a student who in e-mails, on Facebook and elsewhere says ‘I am publicly gay, this is a lifestyle that I advocate regardless of where the university stands.’ ”
Amanda Lee Genaro said she was ejected in 2009 from North Central University [ http://www.northcentral.edu/ ], a Pentecostal Bible college in Minneapolis as she became more assertive about her gay identity. She had struggled with her feelings for years, Ms. Genaro said, when she was inspired by a 2006 visit to the campus of SoulForce [ http://www.soulforce.org/ ], a national group of gay religious-college alumni that tries to spark campus discussion.
“I thought, wow, maybe God loves me even if I like women,” Ms. Genaro recalled. In 2009, after she quit “reparative therapy,” came out on MySpace and admitted to having a romantic, if unconsummated, relationship with a woman, the university suspended her, saying she could reapply in a year if she had rejected homosexuality. She transferred to a non-Christian school.
Gay students say they are often asked why they are attending Christian colleges at all. But the question, students say, is unfair. Many were raised in intensely Christian homes with an expectation of attending a religious college and long fought their homosexuality. They arrive at school, as one of the Harding Web authors put it, “hoping that college would turn us straight, and then once we realized that this wasn’t happening, there was nothing you could do about it.”
The students who do come out on campus say that it is a relief, but that life remains hard.
“I’m lonely,” said Taylor Schmitt, in his second year at Abilene Christian after arriving with a full scholarship and a hope that his inner self might somehow change. By the end of his first year, Mr. Schmitt said, he accepted his homosexuality. He switched to English from the Bible studies department, which, he said, “reeked of the past deceptions and falsehoods I’d created around myself.”
Rather than transferring and giving up his scholarship, he is taking extra classes to graduate a year early.
Some of the gay students end up disillusioned with Christianity, even becoming atheists, while others have searched for more liberal churches.
David Coleman was suspended by North Central University in his senior year in 2005, after he distributed fliers advertising a gay-support site and admitted to intimate relations (but not sexual intercourse) with other men. He calls the university’s environment “spiritually violent.”
Mr. Coleman, 28, is now enrolled at United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities [ http://www.unitedseminary.edu/ ] in New Brighton, Minn., which is run by the more accepting United Church of Christ [ http://www.ucc.org/ ]. He still dreams of becoming a pastor.
Rutgers suicide: Victim's roommate is charged with hate crime
Tyler Clementi hugs a fellow student during his 2010 graduation from Ridgewood High School in Ridgewood, N.J. A grand jury has charged a former Rutgers University student with bias intimidation for allegedly using a webcam to spy on Clementi's intimate encounter with another man. AP Photo/Ridgewood Patch, Sam Fran Scavuzzo, File
A former student is indicted on 15 counts, including invasion of privacy, in the Rutgers suicide case. He is alleged to have used a webcam to spy on his roommate's sexual encounter with another man.
By Aaron Couch, Contributor / April 20, 2011
A former Rutgers University student whose roommate committed suicide after his sexual encounter with another man was streamed on the Internet was indicted Wednesday on 15 counts, including intimidation based on sexual orientation, a hate crime.
The charges against Dharun Ravi also included invasion of privacy and witness tampering. His roommate, Tyler Clementi, committed suicide last September, one day after Mr. Ravi and a friend allegedly invited others to view an intimate encounter online.
Mr. Clementi’s parents released a statement praising the indictment, saying it “spells out cold and calculated acts against our son Tyler by his former college roommate.”
The charges, handed down by a Middlesex County, N.J. grand jury, also include tampering with evidence. Prosecutors say Ravi deleted an incriminating tweet and then – aware of an impending investigation – tweeted something intended to mislead investigators.
The indictment does not specify what the original offending tweet said. However, it was widely reported last fall that messages about Clementi's sexual orientation appeared on a Twitter account attributed to Ravi.
"Roommate asked for the room till midnight," read a Sept. 19, 2010, tweet. "I went into Molly's room and turned on my webcam. I saw him making out with a dude. Yay."
Then, on Sept. 21, a tweet invited followers to watch a webcast of Clementi alone with a man:
"Anyone with iChat, I dare you to video chat me between the hours of 9:30 and 12. Yes it's happening again."
That second attempted webcast was not viewed by anyone, including Ravi, but Clementi jumped from the George Washington Bridge in New York the next day, using his phone to post a short message on Facebook just before: “Jumping off the gw bridge sorry." Ravi’s alleged Twitter account was deleted shortly after.
Clementi’s death was one in a string of teenage suicides [ http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Society/2010/1003/Tyler-Clementi-suicide-Reaction-is-swift-and-widespread ] attributed to bullying, which inspired the antibullying campaign, the "It Gets Better Project." Officials including President Obama and US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton recorded videos for it, as did celebrities Anne Hathaway and Justin Bieber.
Congress is considering the Tyler Clementi Higher Education Anti-Harassment Act, which would require all universities receiving federal funds to have a policy banning harassment based on race, sexual orientation, disability, or gender identity.
Despite public outcry, cyberbullying remains new territory when it comes to criminal prosecutions, and cases have gone both ways. A 13-year-old Missouri girl, Megan Meier, took her life in 2006 after being bullied over Myspace.com. A woman who had participated in the bullying with her teenage daughter and her daughter's friends was acquitted in 2009 [ http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Justice/2009/0703/p02s05-usju.html ] of "accessing computers without authorization."
"Although Facebook, Twitter and text message evidence is part of nearly every case, the law has not caught up with this technology," Derek Witte, law professor at the Thomas M. Cooley School of Law in Michigan, writes in an email.
Last month, William Francis Melchert-Dinkel, a former nurse, was convicted in Minnesota of persuading people he’d met online to commit suicide as he watched via a web cam.
Molly Wei, a former Rutgers student and friend of Ravi's who allegedly watched the first webcast with him from her dorm room, has not yet been indicted by a grand jury, though prosecutors have charged her with two counts of invasion of privacy. Both Ms. Wei and Ravi left Rutgers voluntarily.
In the wake of the suicide, Rutgers has announced policy changes that school officials say will help prevent future tragedy. Last month, the university said it would provide some gender-neutral housing, allowing men and women to share rooms. Officials said this would provide a more friendly environment for gay and transgendered students, though heterosexual students would be eligible to apply for the program as well.
Clementi’s parents, who have described their son as a gifted musician, said in a statement they were eager "for justice in this case and to reinforce the standards of acceptable conduct in our society."
If convicted, Ravi could face 5 to 10 years in prison.
Dharun Ravi is accused of invading the privacy of his college roommate. Mel Evans/Associated Press
Tyler Clementi killed himself after a hidden camera in his dormitory room was used to show on the Internet his romantic encounter with another man. Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
By LISA W. FODERARO Published: April 20, 2011
A New Jersey grand jury on Wednesday indicted the roommate of Tyler Clementi, the Rutgers University freshman who killed himself in September, on hate-crime charges in using a webcam to stream Mr. Clementi’s romantic encounter with another man on the Internet in the days before the suicide.
The roommate, Dharun Ravi, and another student were initially charged with invasion of privacy. In accusing Mr. Ravi of acting with antigay motives, the indictment exposes him to a potential sentence of at least 5 to 10 years in prison if convicted, as opposed to the probation that would probably have resulted if Mr. Ravi were convicted only on the earlier counts.
The grand jury also charged Mr. Ravi, 19, with a cover-up. The Middlesex County prosecutor’s office said he had deleted a Twitter post that alerted others to watch a second encounter Mr. Clementi planned with the man — identified in the indictment only as “M.B.” — and replaced it with a post “intended to mislead the investigation.” Prosecutors said Mr. Ravi had also tried to persuade witnesses not to testify.
The investigation that led to the 15-count indictment proceeded quietly over several months, as Mr. Clementi’s suicide [ http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/30/nyregion/30suicide.html ] focused national attention on the victimization of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender youth. Public figures including Ellen DeGeneres and President Obama spoke out about the tragedy; New Jersey legislators enacted the nation’s toughest law against bullying [ http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/07/nyregion/07bully.html ]; and there were calls from many quarters for prosecutors to bring the bias charges.
Legal scholars said the case would be closely watched and could have ripple effects. “Charging this as a bias crime may send a message to prosecutors who are dealing with similar cases in other states about the particularly damaging consequences of this kind of crime,” said Suzanne B. Goldberg, director of the Columbia Law School Center for Gender and Sexuality Law.
After discovering that his roommate had spied on him, the authorities said, Mr. Clementi, an aspiring violinist from Ridgewood, N.J., jumped from the George Washington Bridge on Sept. 22.
Prosecutors said Wednesday that the events that led to the bias-intimidation charges dated from Aug. 6, the day Mr. Ravi learned the name of his future roommate — identified in the indictment as “T.C.,” since invasion of privacy is designated a sexual offense. Later that month, Mr. Ravi used his Twitter account to announce he had found out his roommate was gay.
“The grand jury charged that the invasion of privacy and attempt to invade the privacy of T.C. and M.B. were intended to intimidate them because of their sexual orientation,” prosecutors said in a statement.
Mr. Ravi’s co-defendant, Molly Wei, who lived in the same dormitory and was also charged with invasion of privacy, was not indicted. The prosecutor, Bruce J. Kaplan, said in a statement that the case against her remained active but would not be presented to a grand jury “at this time,” suggesting that she could testify against Mr. Ravi.
Prosecutors say Mr. Ravi live-streamed the encounter on Sept. 19.
A Twitter message that day from Mr. Ravi summed up the sequence of events: “Roommate asked for the room till midnight. I went into molly’s room and turned on my webcam. I saw him making out with a dude. Yay.”
Mr. Ravi was also charged with additional counts of attempted invasion of privacy for trying to carry out a similar live transmission two days later. That attempt was thwarted after Mr. Clementi found the camera aimed at his bed.
The prosecutor’s office said Mr. Ravi, who remains free on $25,000 bail, would be arraigned in coming days, but no date had been set. Mr. Ravi and Ms. Wei withdrew from Rutgers last fall; their lawyers did not respond to phone messages seeking comment.
Mr. Clementi’s parents, Joseph and Jane Clementi, who said last month in a statement that they were not seeking “harsh punishment [ http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/23/nyregion/23rutgers.html ]” for the defendants, responded to the new charges with their most forceful words to date.
“The grand jury indictment spells out cold and calculated acts against our son Tyler by his former college roommate,” they said in a new statement. “If these facts are true, as they appear to be, then it is important for our criminal justice system to establish clear accountability under the law.”
Their lawyer, Paul Mainardi, emphasized that the charges did not relate to the death. “The point is that it shouldn’t take a suicide for charges like this to be brought,” Mr. Mainardi said.
New Jersey’s attorney general, Paula T. Dow, called the indictment “an important step in this heartbreaking case.” Steven Goldstein, chairman of Garden State Equality [ http://www.gardenstateequality.org/ ], a gay-rights advocacy group, said “potential bullies will now think harder before demolishing another student’s life.”
On the Busch campus at Rutgers, where Mr. Ravi and Mr. Clementi had lived, students offered differing views of the bias charges. “There was no sex tape; it was more like he just peeked into the room,” Enrico Cabreto, 19, a freshman, said. “He’s only being indicted because of all the publicity.”
Daniel Granda, 18, also a freshman, disagreed. “He didn’t make him jump, but by doing what he did, he set the stage for what happened next,” he said.
Suicide Pact: Minnesota Teens Haylee Fentress and Paige Moravetz Commit Suicide at Slumber Party
Haylee Fentress, left, and Paige Moravetz, both eighth graders at Marshall Middle School in southwest Minnesota, were found together in a home in Island Lake Township, around 6:30 a.m. Saturday, April 16, 2011. Two 14-year-old girls left a note saying goodbye to friends and family before taking their own lives. Courtesy Robin Settle; Brett Behnke
Bullying Is Cited in Hanging Deaths of Two Eighth Grade Girls
By JESSICA HOPPER April 20, 2011
A slumber party in Minnesota ended in tragedy when two eighth grade girls fulfilled a suicide pact [ http://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory?id=12299828 ], killing themselves and leaving behind suicide notes telling their families that they loved them.
The bodies of best friends Haylee Fentress and Paige Moravetz, both 14, were discovered Saturday by Fentress' mother, Tracy Morrison.
Haylee's aunt, Robin Settle, said the girl had recently moved to the rural town of Lynd, Minn., and had complained to her family that she felt ostracized and bullied [ http://abcnews.go.com/US/phoebe-princes-family-speaks-settling-lawsuit-school/story?id=12465543 ]. Settle also said there are indications that the girls had planned their deaths for a long time, even including funeral details in a good-bye note.
"I'm shocked and I'm mad and I'm sad...I don't understand the mentality of kids torturing other kids, kids having to go through this. They don't think they have anywhere to go to," Settle told ABC News.com.
Settle said that her niece, Haylee, had been the victim of bullying [ http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=12456289 ] after moving to Minnesota from Indiana with her mother and 8-year-old brother.
"She was made fun of for being overweight, her red hair," Settle said. "She posted on my [Facebook] wall that she really wanted to come back...that the people were mean and cruel and she didn't fit in."
Even though Haylee wasn't severely overweight, she was so uncomfortable about her size that she rarely ate in public at school, Settle said.
Paige was Haylee's closest friend.
"They were best friends. Haylee started school here about a year ago and over the course of the year, they'd become best friends," said Brett Behnke, Paige's uncle.
Paige played hockey and was teaching Haylee to skate, Behnke said.
"She had a big, round face and a smile that's intoxicating, just a charmer," Behnke said of his niece.
The two girls were so close, Haylee had hyphenated her last name on Facebook to include Paige's last name.
Haylee was recently expelled from school for defending Paige during a fight in school, Settle said.
Calls and emails to the Marshall School District to confirm this were not returned.
"That was really weighing on her, missing her friends and being excluded from school. She felt like she was defending herself and her friend," Settle said.
Minnesota Teens Leave Behind Suicide Notes
The girls died three days after Paige's mother and stepdad left for a 10-day vacation to Hawaii. Paige spent the night at Haylee's home.
"Her and Paige got really close. I think they've had this plan for some time," Settle said.
Sometime after 1 a.m. on Saturday, Haylee left a Facebook post for her cousin, Jessica, wishing her a happy birthday. After leaving a post on her cousin's wall, Haylee called her closest friend in Indiana, Settle said. Around 6 a.m., Haylee's mother found the girls.
"They did hang themselves. My sister found them. She's a medical assistant. She attempted to resuscitate them," Settle said.
Those efforts to resuscitate the girls failed.
The girls also left behind letters.
"She just didn't want anybody to be sad for her. She wanted everybody to pray for her and that's the gist of it," Behnke said of Paige's note.
Haylee's letter was to her mother and detailed plans for her funeral, Settle said.
"She requested everything pink and princess and butterflies," Settle said.
A funeral will be held Thursday for Haylee and a second one will be held for Haylee on Saturday in Indiana. Paige's funeral is scheduled for today.
"She was actually one of the most giving loving girls you would ever meet... She just loved everyone unconditionally...She couldn't stand people to be made fun of, tortured, teased. She stood up for the underdogs and she was one herself," Settle said.
Clockwise from upper-left: Michael Bargo, 18; James Haven, 37; Justin Soto, 20; Kyle Hooper, 16; Charlie Ely, 18; Amber Wright, 15.
Friends placed this picture of Seath Jackson at a memorial for him.
By Heather Sorentrue, Saul Saenz and Stephanie Coueignoux, Team Coverage Last Updated: Wednesday, April 20, 2011 11:13 PM
SUMMERFIELD -- A vigil was held Wednesday night for a teen who was beaten and killed in Marion County.
The Marion County Sheriff’s Office said three buckets of ashes were found in a rock pit off of State Road 40 and Interstate 75 Wednesday afternoon.
Six people, including four teenagers, have been arrested in connection with the brutal murder of the 15-year-old boy.
Investigators said two of the suspects lured Seath Jackson into a Summerfield home Sunday.
Once inside, detectives said Jackson was hit on the head with a wooden object, and shot multiple times. His body was then burned, and his remains hidden in paint containers.
Investigators did not immediately say what the suspects' motive was.
Five people, all under 21, have been charged with first-degree murder:
Michael Bargo, 18 Charlie Ely, 18 Kyle Hooper, 16 Justin Soto, 20 Amber Wright, 15
A sixth suspect was charged with accessory after the fact to first-degree murder:
James Haven, 37
Investigators said Haven knew about the murder plot and helped hide the body. He is also accused of giving Bargo a ride to Starke, where he was later captured.
News 13's Heather Sorentrue talked to Haven exclusively Wednesday. He said he was there when the suspects were planning the murder, but he didn't think anything of it at the time.
"I didn't think they were serious. I left. I thought it was a joke," Haven said.
Detectives said it was Bargo who shot Jackson, according to another suspect. He is scheduled to go before a judge Thursday.
Haven was granted a $10,000 bond, but is still scheduled to appear in court, also on Thursday.
Soto and Ely were denied bond in their court appearances Wednesday morning. The other two suspects are still waiting for their court appearances.
Meanwhile, investigators are still looking for the murder weapon.
News 13 has chosen to name the two suspects under 18 because of the seriousness of the charges.
"You normally see things like these in horror films..."
Dozens of people gathered at a vigil Wednesday night in memory of Jackson. The vigil took place in front of the house Marion County investigators said Jackson was murdered in.
Both friends of Jackson and the suspects attended, trying to make sense of what they say was a senseless death.
“I heard it was over a girl. It’s just stupid, so stupid. He didn’t deserve to die like that. He didn’t deserve to die at all. I knew him since he was 7 years old," said one of Jackson’s longtime friends, Josh Yarringty.
People at the vigil also passed around a donation jar to raise money for Jackson’s family.
None of Seath’s family members attended the funeral.
Another family friend told News 13, she is overwhelmed with everything that has happened.
Jackson's friends say the 15-year-old struggled at home, and made the wrong choices.
"He had a pretty hard past, like with his... well not really with his family, but the way he lived," said Ashley Hamilton. He didn't like, obviously hang out with the right people."
Neighbors who talked to News 13 say they heard gunshots in the quiet neighborhood that Sunday night. They say they also saw the fire where Jackson's remains were allegedly burned. Neighbors described the details as being something out of a horror movie.
"This is not, nowhere close to a movie," Hamilton said. "You cannot make up something like that."
Timeline of Events:
Sunday: Michael Bargo allegedly begins making plans to lure Seath Tyler Jackson to Charlie Ely’s home. Investigators say Ely and Wright lured Jackson to her home. Monday: Seath Jackson reported missing by parents Tuesday: Tracey Wright, mother of Kyle Hooper, tells Marion County deputies that her son witnessed Michael Bargo shoot Seath Jackson at Charlie Ely’s home. All suspects involved are arrested later in the day.
Suspect in murder says all she can do is 'pray, pray, pray for forgiveness'
By Austin L. Miller Staff writer Published: Wednesday, April 20, 2011 at 11:33 a.m. Last Modified: Wednesday, April 20, 2011 at 11:33 a.m.
OCALA – Before her first appearance in front of Judge Sarah Ritteroff Williams Wednesday morning, an emotional Charlie Ely said all that's left for her to do is to “pray, pray, pray, for forgiveness.”
The 18-year-old, sitting in a chair outside the area at the jail where inmates confer with judges via video link, was dressed in a red and white Marion County Jail outfit.
She said what was done to 15-year-old Seath Tyler Jackson “was a tragedy” - and she wants forgiveness for her part.
“I felt sick. I didn't want to be a part of it. I was afraid Mike would shoot me,” said Ely, wiping away tears.
The “Mike” she referred to is Michael Shane Bargo, 18, who along with Ely, Justin E. Soto, 20; Kyle Lonnie-Duan Hooper, 16; and Amber Wright, 15; are charged with first-degree murder in the death of Seath.
James Young Havens, 37, the stepfather of both juveniles, was charged with accessory after the fact to first-degree murder.
Ely said she met Bargo through a friend. When asked how long she had known the victim, she said “a couple of days” and met him through Amber.
At first, Ely was reluctant to discuss what happened, or what led to the violent confrontation, but after a few minutes she started talking.
First, she said, on Sunday night Bargo waved his gun in her face and threatened to kill her if she didn't do as she was told. That, she said, was for her and Amber to convince Seath to go with them over to her house at 13896 S.E. 53rd Ave. in Summerfield.
Bargo, sheriff's detectives said, had a “hatred” for Seath and the plan was to lure the boy to Ely's home so he could “kill him with the assistance” of others.
“I tried to tell him not to do it, but he wouldn't listen,” Ely said.
She said Bargo's anger toward Seath was from the boy allegedly hitting Amber, and “it pissed him off.”
“He looks up to her as a sister,” Ely said.
Ely said that since Bargo moved from Michigan to Ocala three years ago, he, Amber and her brother Kyle “have been good friends, and he has a bond with them.”
When Seath entered the home, she said, Kyle “hit him in the head with a stick.” She said she ran to her room and stayed there.
She said she heard a couple of gunshots, followed by more gunshots. She denied helping clean up the scene, or dispose of the body or any evidence.
Soto, who is on suicide watch, told the judge during his first appearance that he attends Belleview High School and has been living in Ocala for seven years. He was not given a bond and is to have no contact with the co-defendants. His next court date is May 24.
Bargo also is on suicide watch.
Havens has been released from the Marion County Jail.
Contact Austin L. Miller at 867-4118 or austin.miller@starbanner.com.
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