Girl cash teen

In a case that garnered national attention, a White California teen who had been charged with the murder of a 7-year-old Black girl recently pleaded guilty and accepted life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Jeremy Strohmeyer, 19, of Long Beach, CA, surprised legal observers by pleading guilty on the day his trial was to begin in Las Vegas. He had been charged with the strangulation murder and sexual assault of Sherrice Iverson at a bathroom in a casino just across the Nevada border from California.

The move spared Strohmeyer the death penalty. He somberly pleaded guilty to four counts of kidnapping, sexual assault and murder at the Primadonna Casino, about 30 miles from Las Vegas.

The case has generated controversy from the beginning because Strohmeyer's companion, David Cash, reportedly saw part of the crime being committed in the women's bathroom of the casino, but said nothing for days until questioned by police. The fact that he reportedly saw his friend assaulting and abusing Iverson and said nothing has inflamed much of the public in Southern California. Also, Cash told reporters that the incident has helped him score with women. A large contingent of L.A. residents went to the campus of University of California at Berkeley to ask that Cash be expelled. However, university officials noted there was nothing they could do because he had broken no law (JET, Sept. 14).

Additionally, a number of individuals who observed the case felt that some legal action should be taken against Leroy Iverson, father of the girl. He allegedly left his daughter and 14-year-old son unsupervised at 3:00 a.m. while he gambled at the casino. Twice, casino officials reportedly brought his children to him after seeing them unsupervised.

A video camera caught images of Iverson playing a game of tag with a man who was identified as Strohmeyer. She threw something at the man and scampered to the ladies' room. Strohmeyer went into the bathroom behind her. Cash has admitted that he followed Strohmeyer into the room, but left before the murder.

Many in the Los Angeles area want Cash prosecuted for failing to do anything about the assault that he admitted witnessing. However, prosecutors have stated that Good Samaritan laws, where individuals are legally bound to assist victims who are in great harm, are difficult to enforce. In Cash's case, prosecutors said that unless it can be shown that he assisted or encouraged Strohmeyer, he can't be charged under Nevada law.

Clark County (NV) District Attorney Stewart Bell told reporters that Strohmeyer "will never be able to hurt another child again." Family members of both Strohmeyer and Iverson cried while details of the crime were discussed in court.

The decision to plead guilty might have come as a result of District Judge Myron E. Leavitt's decision to allow prosecutors to use evidence taken from Strohmeyer's computer, including his alleged admission to another Internet user that he had fantasized about 5- and 6-year-old girls, according to the L.A. Times.

At a news conference, Strohmeyer's attorney, Leslie Abramson, told reporters that her client's slide could be attributed to alcohol, drugs, Internet pornography and problems associated with his adoption. She blasted Cash. "Then, there is David Cash, who was not a witness but a co-perpetrator." She said Cash gave widely varying stories on what happened in the bathroom.

Cash's attorney, Mark Werksman, said: "They can lash out as much as they want, but at the end of the day, Jeremy Strohmeyer alone killed Sherrice Iverson."

COPYRIGHT 1998 Johnson Publishing Co.
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