Murder of Julie Laible
DateMarch 28, 1999 (1999-03-28)
LocationManatee County, Florida, United States
Coordinates27°34′28″N 82°30′53″W / 27.574520°N 82.514785°W / 27.574520; -82.514785
TypeHomicide
Deaths1, Julie Laible
Convicted3

Julie Catherine Laible (December 20, 1966 – March 28, 1999) was a professor at University of Alabama killed by a large rock thrown at her car from an overpass while she was driving along Interstate 75 in Manatee County, Florida, on March 28, 1999.

Attack

A 22-pound (10 kg) rock was thrown or dropped onto a passing car from the Erie Road Bridge overpass on Interstate 75 near Bradenton, Florida by a group of four teenagers, hitting the car Laible was driving.[1][2] Tara Wells (30), a graduate student who was a passenger in the car, managed to steer it safely to the side of the road.[3][4] The rock smashed through the windshield hitting the professor in the head and inflicting a fatal injury.[5][6][7] The teenagers also threw rocks at vehicles from the Ellenton-Gillette Road overpass at Interstate 275 later that night.[1][8] Several other cars were damaged by rocks thrown from the Erie Road Bridge overpass during that weekend.[3][8]

Laible's death shocked Tuscaloosa, home of the University of Alabama, where the trials were followed closely.[9][10] Laible was an assistant professor of Educational Leadership and Policy at University of Alabama from 1995 until her death in 1999.[11] She is remembered for her anti-racism scholarship and activism.[12]

Trial and convictions

Three of the four teenagers throwing rocks off the Erie Road Bridge overpass that night were arrested and charged.[13] The fourth, Antonio Hernandez (19) was granted immunity by the court in exchange for his testimony.[14]

Juan Cardenas (19) of Wimauma, Florida, the alleged ringleader in the crime,[15] was convicted of second-degree murder for hurling the rock that killed Laible.[6] Cardenas was sentenced to life imprisonment for second-degree murder.[16][17][18][19][14]

Jesus Dominguez (19) of Ellenton, Florida, was charged with driving the truck in which Juan Cardenas and another boy (a juvenile at the time) rode on the night of the murder.[20] During the 16 months following his arrest, Dominguez was permitted to move about freely wearing an ankle bracelet that recorded whether he was in his home or had left the house, but not his precise whereabouts.[21] On August 30, 2000 the night before he was scheduled to plead guilty to second-degree murder, Dominguez fled.[20][22] He was arrested in Brownsville, Texas in August 2001.[20][22] Dominguez was extradited back to Manatee County.[20][23] Dominguez pleaded no contest to a charge of second degree murder and driving the car on the night of the attack.[24] Dominguez was sentenced to serve 21 years in prison.[16]

A 16-year-old of Palmetto, Florida was tried as a juvenile.[20] After spending 58 days in a juvenile detention facility, he was convicted of culpable negligence and sentenced to 180 days of house arrest.[24][20]

Victim

Laible, who grew up in Marshall County, Illinois, and earned her PhD at the University of Texas in 1995,[1][25] was an Assistant Professor of Education at the University of Alabama from 1995 until her death.[26][25][27] Her work centered on finding ways to help minority youth, especially Mexican-Americans, to acquire the education and skills that lead to productive lives.[25][26] Laible's ethics-centered approach to research, explored by K.C. Mansfield in a chapter entitled, The Potency of Love and the Power of a Thousand; Reflections on Gustav Mahler and Leadership of Social Justice, describing Laible's call to fellow researchers to examine their own attitudes, thoughts, feelings and intentions before entering a setting where they would conduct fieldwork.[28]

Laible's 2002 paper, "A Loving Epistemology: What I Hold Critical in My Life, Faith, and Profession," was republished in Reconsidering Feminist Research in Educational Leadership[29], by Michelle D. Young and Linda Skrla, (State University of New York Press (2003), along with three chapters responding to Laible's ideas, "Life Lessons and a Loving Epistemology: A Response to Julie Laible’s Loving Epistemology," "Research on Women and Administration: A Response to Julie Laible’s Loving Epistemology ," and "The Emperor and Research on Women in School Leadership: A Response to Julie Laible’s Loving Epistemology."

An endowed lecture series, the Julie C. Laible Memorial Lecture Series on Anti-Racist Scholarship, Education and Social Activism, was created at the University of Alabama in Professor Laible's memory.[25][30][21][31]

Impact

The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) installed chain-link fences on highway overpasses in Manatee County, including the Erie Road overpass where Laible was killed. Statewide policy is to install such fences only on highly trafficked overpasses and those near schools.[19][32]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Banta, Bob (April 1, 1999). "UT grad killed by rock dropped on interstate". Austin American Statesman. ProQuest 255667554.
  2. ↑ "Rock Tossed From Overpass Kills Professor". Los Angeles Times. Associated Press. Archived from the original on March 7, 2016. Retrieved September 21, 2015.
  3. 1 2 "National News Briefs; Professor Killed by Rock Thrown From Overpass". The New York Times. March 30, 1999. Archived from the original on May 27, 2015. Retrieved September 21, 2015.
  4. ↑ Barrouquere, Brett (April 26, 2000). "Passernger recalls when rock hit car". Sarasota Herald Tribune. Lakeland Ledger. Archived from the original on April 30, 2016. Retrieved September 22, 2015.
  5. ↑ St Amour, Madeline (August 25, 2017). "Baby to hospital". Kennebec Journal. ProQuest 1958269896.
  6. 1 2 "Teen Convicted of Killing Woman by Dropping Rock". Orlando Sentinel. April 28, 2000. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved September 21, 2015.
  7. ↑ "Teenagers accused of throwing brick from overpass". Tuscaloosa News. September 17, 2012. Archived from the original on September 21, 2012. Retrieved September 21, 2015.
  8. 1 2 Atkins, Ace; Girona, Jose Partona (March 31, 1999). "Rock tossing didn't cease after fatal drop, troopers say". ProQuest 271037369.
  9. ↑ "Freeway Attacks". Weld. April 29, 2014. Archived from the original on August 7, 2016. Retrieved September 21, 2015.
  10. ↑ "Looking Back: 10 years ago this week". Tiscaloosa News. January 30, 2012. Archived from the original on March 6, 2016. Retrieved September 22, 2015.
  11. ↑ "Resolution Supporting the Julie Laible Memorial Lecture Series" (PDF). Faculty Senate, University of Alabama. Archived (PDF) from the original on April 23, 2015. Retrieved September 21, 2015.
  12. ↑ Scheurich, James Joseph (2002). Anti-Racist Scholarship: An Advocacy. SUNY Press. p. 254.
  13. ↑ "2 More Teens Held in Rock Fatality". Bergen County Record. April 3, 1999. ProQuest 425006227.
  14. 1 2 "Teen gets life for killing woman with rock hurled from overpass". Ottawa Citizen. May 27, 2000. ProQuest 240355860.
  15. ↑ "Bradenton teen in prof's highway death gets more than 20 years". Florida Times Union. Associated Press. February 2, 2002. Retrieved September 21, 2015.
  16. 1 2 "Teen gets 21 years in case of driver killed by concrete". Chicago Tribune. February 3, 2002. Archived from the original on September 25, 2015. Retrieved September 22, 2015.
  17. ↑ "Teen Gets Life For Murder With Hurled Piece Of Rock". Orlando Sentinel. May 27, 2000. Archived from the original on October 3, 2015. Retrieved September 21, 2015.
  18. ↑ "Hurling of concrete chunk brings life term for Floridian". Deseret News. May 27, 2002. Archived from the original on July 24, 2018. Retrieved July 24, 2018.
  19. 1 2 Barton, Eric Allen (October 17, 2000). "Fences may discourage vandals". Sarasota Herald Tribune. ProQuest 270637413.
  20. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Last of suspects in rock-throwing death pleads guilty". The Florida Times-Union. Associated Press. November 28, 2001. Archived from the original on September 26, 2015. Retrieved September 21, 2015.
  21. 1 2 "Fugitive in rock-throwing death of UA professor caught in Texas". Tuscaloosa News. August 22, 2001. Archived from the original on September 25, 2015. Retrieved September 21, 2015.
  22. 1 2 "Fugitive in Manatee rock death caught in Texas". The Florida Times Union. Associated Press. August 21, 2001. Archived from the original on September 26, 2015. Retrieved September 21, 2015.
  23. ↑ Sanders, Chris (August 24, 2001). "Florida man charged in professor's death". University News. Archived from the original on September 25, 2015. Retrieved September 21, 2015.
  24. 1 2 "Teen pleads in rock-throwing death". Tuscaloosa News. November 28, 2001. Archived from the original on September 26, 2015. Retrieved September 21, 2015.
  25. 1 2 3 4 Decker, Twyla (February 6, 2000). "Young Woman Who Tried to Help Minority Youth Killed by Minority Youth". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. ProQuest 392130606.
  26. 1 2 McCormick, Darleen (April 1, 1999). "Victim dedicated her life to underdogs". Tampa Tribune. ProQuest 271066646.
  27. ↑ "Educator to Discuss Segregation, Impact on Curriculum at UA Lecture". U of A. October 18, 2016. Archived from the original on July 17, 2018. Retrieved July 17, 2018.
  28. ↑ Watson, Teri; Brooks, Jeffrey; Beachum, Floyd (2017). Educational Leadership and Music: Lessons for Tomorrow's School Leaders. Information Age Publishing. p. 62. ISBN 9781681238579.
  29. ↑ Young, Michelle; Skrla, Linda (2003). Reconsidering Feminist Research in Educational Leadership. State University of New York Press.
  30. ↑ "UA College of Education to Commemorate Julie Laible's Life in May 3 Ceremony". May 2, 2000. Archived from the original on October 30, 2015. Retrieved September 21, 2015.
  31. ↑ "Julie C. Laible Memorial Lecture Series". University of Alabama. Archived from the original on September 6, 2015. Retrieved September 21, 2015.
  32. ↑ Smith, Adam C. (March 31, 1999). "Overpasses, rocks: deadly common combination". St. Petersburg Times. ProQuest 263345119.
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