Teen died 21 years ago after baseball bat assault

Summary: Jeremy Alexander Rourke, 15, died after 13-year-old Greg Harris Jr. hit him in the head with a baseball bat during an “argument” at a concession stand following a Pony League game in Palmdale, California, on April 12, 2005.

Today, Rourke would have been 36 years old.

Witnesses said the spectator teased the younger player about his loss before they pushed each other. Rourke was rushed to a hospital and pronounced dead hours later, reports say.

What I take away from this crime is the blatant hypocrisy. One hundred years ago, both white and black Americans were lynched after committing serious crimes. The woke left cites lynchings as evidence of white racism.

In a sense, Jeremy Rourke was lynched. His “serious” crime was chiding the member of a losing team, something Jeremy himself likely experienced many times. It’s a universal aspect of athletic competition. The impulsivity of the attacker reminds us why sports were segregated.

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PALMDALE, Calif. — Jeremy Alexander Rourke, a 15-year-old spectator at a Pony League baseball game, died Tuesday night after a 13-year-old player, Greg Harris Jr., struck him in the head with an aluminum bat during a post-game “dispute” at a concession stand.

The attack occurred around 8:25 p.m. on April 12 at the baseball fields on 20th Street East, just south of Palmdale Boulevard. The 13-year-old, who had pitched for the Angels team in its loss to the Dodgers, had spoken briefly with his father and walked to the snack bar carrying his equipment bag. Rourke, who knew the younger boy through the local baseball community, was also heading to the concession stand.

Witnesses told investigators that Rourke teased the pitcher about the team’s defeat. The exchange turned physical as the pair pushed each other while waiting in line. The smaller 13-year-old reached into his bag, pulled out the bat and swung twice — first hitting Rourke in the leg or knee, then striking him in the head, according to accounts from those at the scene. Rourke collapsed immediately.

Bystanders called 911. Paramedics transported Rourke by ambulance to a hospital in Lancaster, where he was pronounced dead about two hours later, just before 10:15 p.m.

Sheriff’s deputies took the 13-year-old into custody at the ballpark without further incident and booked him at the Palmdale station. The Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office filed a murder charge against the juvenile the next day. He entered a not guilty plea in Lancaster Juvenile Court. He was convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to up to 12 years in a youth detention facility. In 2007, an appellate court reduced L.G.’s conviction to voluntary manslaughter.

Court records and testimony indicated the suspect had no prior criminal history or record of violence. His attorneys argued the attack stemmed from fear during the altercation, noting the significant size difference between the boys. Prosecutors described the swings as intentional.

“We know, and my son knows, this was an accident,” he mother said, according to oprah.com. “He’s a very kind-hearted person, a good kid,”

Rourke, a freshman at Highland High School who had played in the Pony League as a younger child, sustained blunt-force trauma that proved fatal.

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Sources:

Town shocked by teen’s baseball bat slaying

Ballplayer, 13, Convicted of Fatal Beating With Bat

12 Years For Baseball Bat Killer

Jeremy Alexander Rourke, 15Jeremy Alexander Rourke (1990-2005)