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Show Al2 The Salt Lake Tribune NATION Sunday, January 31, 1999 Mean Streets Entice, Devour Teen Hero didn’t fit in. And then the inevitable happened.” Honored as a brave good Samaritan, he wanted approval from tough peers BY LARRY McSHANE becamethe youngest recipient of a police Merit Award, one ofonly two civilians so honoredthat year in Milwaukee. On May 14,1996, he appeared on the Winfrey show. That crowd was unimpressed by his gooddeeds. “Good Samari- ‘THE ASSOCIATED PRESS MILWAUKEE — For a few brief moments in May 1996, they were onfirst-name terms: Oprah and Lafayette. tan,” they sneered. “Sissy,” they mocked. And Lafayette Clark rose to thebait. “He was a kid caught between childhood and trying to be an Oprah Winfrey had invited La- adult,” recalled his uncle, Darron fayette Clark to appear on her Reed, who tried desperately to save the boy. “He didn’t fit in the talk show, wherethe 14-year-old recounted histale of foiling a kidnapping near his Milwaukee home. “Lafayette . a brave manyou were,” Winfreytold him before millions of viewers. He came home a hero, a title that sat uneasily upon the teen’s thin shoulders. He was honored by the policeandhailed in the local paper. Theattention was OK, but the fatherless boy craved the acceptance of his peers. He craved that acceptance so muchthat it killed him, his family believes. OnJan. 10, Lafayette — now a high school dropout, an absentee father, an armed robber — was dead, accidentally killed by a “friend” ina botched robberyat a reputed drug house, authorities said. Lafayette Clark, hero, was now Lafayette Clark, statistic. He was 17. Howto explain his precipitous spiral, how it all went downhill so quickly? There are no simple answers, but his family says that La- fayette — struggling on theslip- pery slope between adolescence andadulthood — was desperately searching for a placeto fit in. He just chose the wrongplace nightlife. He wastrying to be ina place where he didn’t fit in. “And then the inevitable happened.” The inevitable: Live by the streets, die by the streets. If the conclusion wasinevitable,the rest of Lafayette’s tale was by turns improbable, heroic, sad and hor- rifying. His family watched proudly. “He was calm, not nervous,” Reed remembered. “I mean, a kid his age. Talking to Oprah.” TheFall: The boy was invited to join various youth activities around town, but his family said nobody everfollowed through on the offers. The youth andhis story soon became yesterday's news. Back in his neighborhood, Lafayette’s heroism was mocked. Stung by the harsh words, he began hanging out with a rougher crowd, biddingforstreet credibility. He was arrested on misdemeanor charges for ‘small stuff,” his uncle recalled — fighting, or skipping school. The oldest of seven children The Rise: It was April 28, 1995, and Lafayette Clark, then 13, was bicycling home from school. The eighth-grader spotted a boy about his age running naked downthe street, weeping and trying to pull on his clothes. Lafayette asked what was wrong; as the boy answered, a man with a gun drove up and snatched the child away. Lafayette pulled a school notebook from his back pocket and wrote downthe car's description and plate number. When the car droveoff, he followed. Whenthe car stopped and the man took the boy into a nearby house, La- fayette wrote down the address. Thenhepedaledto a phone and make up stories about gifts and visits from his missing dad. In August, his mother, Lorraine Allen, left the city for a quieter life in Green Bay, Wis. Lafayette movedin with his aunt and uncle, Darron and Victoria Reed, in a quiet residential part of north Milwaukee. His mom hopedDar- ron would be Lafayette’s role model. , But Lafayette became con- vinced he was a burden.Increasingly, he turned to thestreets. The End: One winter’s night last month, Lafayette Clark turned the corner onto the 2800 block of North 13th Street. He was four mileseast of his uncle’s safe two-family home, and a world away from the Oprah Winfrey show. The block had seen better days; pigeons roosted in a pair of boarded-up houses. Lafayette raised bya single mother, he had walked with two friends, headed might foster NBA dreams; Lafayette was an aspiring architect for what they hoped would be a big score at an alleged drug house. Authorities gave this version of what happenednext: The heavily armed trio approached the house, ignoring the pointed question posted on its front door: “Whatpart of no trespassing don’t you understand?” Posing as police officers, they played basketball, but had balancedit with books. His favorite classes had been science, math and social studies. Other kids But now he became a mere memory at Custer High School. Lastfall he attendedjust a handful of classes. He had two children and a third on the with three different women — in three years. He survived a street shooting; details of that incident remain sketchy even now. As Lafayette grew older, his fa- ther’s absence became an everlarger void. Lafayette would Darron Reed Lafayette Clark’s uncle a awaited: watchdogs. One of the bandits openedfire on the dogs, the muzzle flash lighting up the yard. A bullet struck Lafayette in the back, tore through his aorta and cameouthis chest. He died at 10:03 p.m at St. Joseph’s Hospital. His aunt, Vic- toria Reed, called his mother in Green Bayto deliver the news. “They will never have a chance to know their father,” he said quietly, shaking his head. “He will A funeral cortege of more than 30 cars accompanied his body to the then continued: “That's the sad Reed paused for a moment, part. He wasjust a kid,too.” Reupholster a 5 before 99: price : otelitel It comes back to you better than new! REUPHOLSTERY INCLUDES; + Ouinommcoae rae '® Repairing Any Frame Damage: Oa Rd ReeoAenae) to lie on the floor, and robbedher. with $60, a necklace and some rings. Outside, another surprise ing their father’s funeral. Like Lafayette, they would now grow up without a dad. never have a chanceto knowhis babies.” They ordered the woman inside into the house, the bandits fled sight: Lafayette’s own kids watch- Two days later, at Lafayette’s funeral, the Ephesians Church wasfilled with family andfriends. kicked the door down. Surprised when herfiance burst cemetery. In the midst of the mourning and weeping, Darron Reed, the uncle, took in a heart-rending Perree) Lira ro aroraeres ‘Call for Free In-home ee PArumeulesu) 10. year written guarantee clo ENT) OMCs A 1X(01:7. are 2700 So, State 484-7657 484-2333 1-800-450-7336 NOW SERVING: PARK CITY, TOOELE AND ese}a dialed 911. The suspect was arrested on charges of abduction and armed robbery, and the boy His family recalls the nerdy teen who did Eddie Murphyimpressions, who fixed bicycles and gave haircuts to his pals. But there was another Lafayette: the wannabe tough guy who quit school, fathered three kids by three women and strived to im- press the wrong crowd. returnedsafely to his family. Lafayette continued home and said nothing about the day’s events. No surprise there. He was not the kind of kid who drewattention to himself. EYme)c= But word of his good deed spread, and nine months later he _ http://www.NACorp.com | “He was a kid caught between childhood and trying to be an adult . . trying to be in a place where he Questions About the Newspapers? | Visit the Newspaper Agency Corporation website on the Internet! Oncethere, you'll find: Specific advertising information and | specifications; Marketing research,readership, reach and | statistical summaries; Citizens Online and Email letters to the Citizens editor; Important area maps; brief-history of the The Salt Lake Tribune and Deséret NewsjAnd phone numbers for our advertising representatives. ‘Chattanooga _ than you © think. TheSaltLake Tribune!Deseret News (“Chattanooga” = “money”) Here’s a great U.S. Bank Home Equity Loan that can get you more money than you’d expect. We had to be sure you didn't miss it. FIRELIGHT GAS ST Jotul opens the door to Andnow, theplain, no: nonsensefacts: Evenif you have home, you'll be surprised by picture. 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