Killer of a Boy

Raymond Davis, a 15 year old newcomer to his community, shoots and kills a man and walks away from the crime scene $4 richer. As a part of pending criminal proceedings, a psychologist (represented as the author) is appointed to study the young killer. Finding the boy to be far more than a distressing statistic, the good doctor muses about his conversations with the youth, the teen's pitiable parents, and attorneys. Along the way, Raymond challenges the psychologist's conventional definitions of spiritual wholeness. The boy looks for, and finds, meaning in the shadows of the most intimate of crimes: murder. In the end, the young predator meets justice, but along the way he and his psychological examiner fall deeply into a discourse that connects this teenage murderer to all of Humankind.

Psychology and spirituality and intertwining disciplines. Some people learn about God, about themselves, about others through conventional channels—church, home, retreats, humanitarian investment. But for others, fortunate others, God speaks and teaches via unanticipated sources. Raymond Davis, a 15 year old newcomer to his community, shoots and kills a man and walks away from the crime scene $4 richer. As a part of pending criminal proceedings, a psychologist (represented as the author) is appointed to study the young killer. Finding the boy to be far more than a distressing statistic, the good doctor muses about his conversations with the youth, the teen's pitiable parents, and attorneys. Along the way, Raymond challenges the psychologist's conventional definitions of spiritual wholeness. The boy looks for, and finds, meaning in the shadows of the most intimate of crimes: murder. In the end, the young predator meets justice, but along the way he and his psychological examiner fall deeply into a discourse that connects this teenage murderer to all of Humankind. In recent years our nation has been gripped by one compelling story after another of teenagers who kill. Following each sentinel event the public asks, even demands, to know why and how youth can impose senseless, deadly harm on people they may or may not know. People are curious about boys who kill. Written by a psychologist whose practice focuses exclusively on psychological evaluations, Killer of a Boy: Spiritual Surprises not only draws the reader into the mind of the young perpetrator, but into a psychological and spiritual inspection of the Human Condition. Killer of a Boy is not just a treatise on spiritual growth, though it is that. It is not just a treatise on teen psychopathology, though it is that. It is not just a social commentary on the needed public response to those young people in our midst who are psychologically and spiritually bereft, though it is that.

Wm. Lee Carter is a psychologist with over thirty-five years of experience in the practice of psychology. He currently practices at Cen-Tex Psychological Services, a solo mental health clinic in Waco, Texas. He holds a doctoral degree in counseling psychology from Baylor University. He is a licensed psychologist and member of the American Psychological Association and other professional organizations. He has abundant experience with troubled individuals by virtue of his experience in a wide range of clinical settings. He has been on staff at several inpatient and residential treatment facilities in Central Texas. He has past or current consulting relationships with psychiatric hospitals, residential treatment centers, social service agencies, juvenile probation agencies, foster care agencies, schools, and child advocacy agencies. Dr. Carter is often court-appointed to examine the criminally accused and is frequently called upon as an expert witness in criminal trials and hearings.