User:Jbvann05/Death of Dillon Beard

Dillon Beard (April 11, 1985 – July 12, 2001) was the child of deceased Beard Company owners Victor Seward and Mildred Beard. He was reported dead in the evening of July 12, 2001 outside of the Mornington Youth Residential Center, as part of a string of killings at the orphanage. He was in the custody of the orphanage at the time of his death. Beard's death brought a surge of public attention into the case of the Mornington Murders, and ultimately led to the closing of the Mornington Center.

Background
On December 15, 2001, Victor and Mildred Beard were found dead after the Beards' private jet crashed outside of Strasburg, Pennsylvania. After the crash, Dillon Beard was widely expected to become the next CEO of the Beard Company upon turning eighteen. The company's board then appointed Garrison Callope to serve as CEO until Beard's eighteenth birthday. While in his position, Calope discovered that the Beard family defrauded investors to secure funding for the company. The government sued the Beard Company and was granted permission to seize all of the assets of the company and the Beards. The Beard Company was allowed to continue with anew CEO. Dillon was then taken into state custody and place in the Mornington Youth Residential Center. This was a highly critized decision, with Forbes calling for Beard to be reinstated, saying that "Dillon Beard should not be punished for his parents' sins."

Murder
On July 11, 2001, the New York Police Department reported a recieved 9-1-1 call from the Mornington Center reporting a death of a child. Police and medical officials arrived at the scene and pronounced 17-year-old Elena Carver dead. The cause was presumed to be a gunshot, a theory which was later confirmed by an autopsy. Carver was found to be a resident of Mornington. Despite pressure from police, Mornington was not locked down following Carver's death.

On July 12, 2001, the NYPD reported yet another 9-1-1 call from Mornington reporting yet another death. Beard was found dead just outside of the Mornington Center, and the cause was once again determined to be a gunshot wound. Beard's death ended up being the second in the string of three murderers at the Mornington Center

Reactions and Aftermath
Beard's death drew a tremendous amount of public attention to the case. The New York Sentinel-Public Record initially reported that the murders were due to gang violence. Business owner Fabien Dehmer, who was fatally shot the next day at Mornington, publibly chastised the orphanage, and called for the city to step and and close the Center. Forbes mourned the death, saying that Beard "was destined to become a CEO yet again despite his circumstances."

New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani declined to comment after Carver's death. Following the death of Beard, however, Giuliani addressed the public and said "these deaths at the Mornington Center are very concerning. We are hoping the state can step in and do what's right for the children at Mornington. Beard was a special man and we will mourn his loss greatly."

On July 14, Mornington resident Glory Faust was taken into custody by the NYPD in connection with the deaths of Carver, Beard, and Dehmer. It was discovered in questioning that Dehmer, an unknown relative of Faust, promised that he would adopt Faust in exchange for carrying out a series of murders. It was assumed the the Record that Dehmer sought the closing of the Center in order to pursue opportunities in real estate there. Faust was tried as an adult on three counts of murder and was sentenced to 80 years in state prison.