The Short and Tragic Life of Robert Peace

Five days have passed, and Skeet is in jail. Jackie goes to visit him. She doesn’t know anything about the crime Skeet is said to have committed. During visiting hours, Skeet tells Jackie that he wants her to arrange for a lawyer to handle bail and prepare his defense. Jackie becomes uncomfortable—she wonders if Skeet really did murder two people. The two murder victims are sisters, Charlene Moore and Estella Moore, but Jackie knows nothing about them.

Meanwhile, Robert spends his time playing football, and quickly makes a name for himself. Robert has always enjoyed playing sports with Skeet. Now, some of Robert’s friends ask where his dad has gone. Robert doesn’t know—Jackie can’t bear to tell him the truth. Eventually, she tells him that Skeet has taken a trip to visit family.

A few days before Robert starts the first grade, Jackie tells her son the truth about Skeet: he’s in jail for murder. Robert doesn’t ask any questions—he just asks how soon Skeet will be back. Jackie replies, “Soon.”

The investigation into the double murder proceeds slowly. The prosecutor, Thomas Lechliter, determines that two women named Georgianna Broadway and Deborah Neal went to visit their friends Estella and Charlene Moore on the night of August 7. Georgianna walked Deborah home but then went to buy cocaine. After she came back, Estella went out drinking with a man named Mervin Matthews. Estella came home around five thirty. Mervin headed back to his own place, but realized he still had Estella’s keys. While walking into the Moore sisters’ building complex (where Estella, Georgianna, and Charlene were sleeping), Mervin passed Skeet, who was sitting outside. Skeet followed Mervin into the building.

What happened next is unclear. Around six, Georgianna saw Estella walking through the kitchen, apparently annoyed. Then the bedroom door opened, and Georgianna heard a gun being fired. The shots killed Charlene and Estella and wounded Georgianna.

Hours later, the police received a call from Deborah Neal’s place. Strangely, Georgianna had traveled all the way to Deborah’s place instead of asking for help or going to the hospital, which was just a few blocks away from the Moore sisters’ place. Georgianna claimed that Skeet had shot her. On further questioning, she admitted she hadn’t seen Skeet’s face, but insisted that she’d heard his voice. The next day, the police arrested Skeet.

Thomas Lechliter quickly convinces himself that Skeet is guilty. However, he recognizes that there are many loose ends in the story. Georgianna was hung over and “strung out” when she witnessed the shooting, and she never saw the shooter’s face. But Lechliter believes these questions will be answered soon enough.

In the midst of the preparation for Skeet’s trial, Jackie takes Robert to the Essex County jail. She’s been in regular contact with Skeet, who continues to insist that he’s completely innocent. During the visit, Skeet tells Robert that he didn’t do anything wrong. Robert confidently replies, “Yeah.”

Robert begins the school year, and he starts to behave violently. He has a fistfight with another student, and he’s sent to the principle’s office. Robert also begins to gain weight and spend too much time sitting around the house watching TV.

Skeet prepares for his trial by working with the public defender he’s been assigned. Later in the fall, however, Skeet’s public defender is taken away from him, supposedly because Skeet is unable to prove “indigence”: his house is valued at $100,000, meaning that he could conceivably afford his own lawyer. Skeet protests the ruling, which takes months.

In March of 1989, Skeet is finally appointed a public defender. The pretrial hearings begin in September. After months, the trial is scheduled for September 10, 1990. Skeet spends three full years in jail.

The trial proceeds. In the winter of 1990, Robert is called to testify before Thomas Lechliter, regarding whether “the death penalty would be sought.” Robert, who’s now almost ten, testifies that he’s never seen his father using drugs. In the end, however, Lechliter convinces the judge to use the death penalty.

Robert proceeds with his schooling. Sometimes, one of his classmates will tell him that his father Skeet is a “hero” for committing murder, and he seems to take pride in hearing this. Jackie is terrified that her son is growing into a criminal. She decides to take night classes to become a kitchen supervisor at the University Hospital—with this extra employment, she hopes to pay for Robert’s education. In the fall of 1990, a few days before Skeet’s trial, Jackie enrolls her son in a private Catholic school.