| Kingwood is a carefully planned
community of 15,000 wooded acres in Houston, Texas (USA). Many in Houston think
of Kingwood as an oasis from the crime and turmoil of city life. In the summer
of 1999, that tranquillity was shaken. Between May 30 and July 10, there were
five armed robberies in the area. In each case, the robbers entered stores and
waved guns in the faces of terrorized clerks. To some, however, even more shocking
than hearing of the robberies, was finding out that the alleged robbers were
four teenage girls, all from Kingwood. They called themselves “the Queens
of Armed Robbery”: Lisa Warzeka, 17, a popular athlete at Kingwood High
School, who had been hoping for a college scholarship; Katie Dunn, 17, an award-winning
member of the school's elite drill team; and Michelle Morneau, 18, who had graduated
from Kingwood, considered one of the best schools in the state, just days before
the first robbery. The fourth girl charged in the case, 16 year old Krystal Maddox,
was the youngest. Police say she was the ringleader. Of the four, Maddox came
from the wealthiest family; her father was a corporate executive. Investigation
revealed that they had done it to experience a thrill and to get a so-called
break from their day-to-day lives. |
