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Since december is cOming up.. i decided tO make my jOurnal im memOry of Brian deneke, ((fOrmer drummer fOr gOod charlOtte)) whO was murdered because he was different.
Brian did not die because he deserved to. Brian did not die because he asked to. Brian died because he was different. He was a nonconformist. He was an Individualist. He was a free spirit. Brian was also a thoughtful and caring young man, a good son, a good friend. His life was full of promise. His murder deprived this community of someone who had already begun to make a difference to it and no doubt would have made an even greater difference in the future. Brian Deneke is gone. His death has left a divided city, a shocked city, a hurt city in its wake. It has also left us a memory of who Brian was and what he stood for. That memory can serve either a negative purpose or a positive one.
A battle between "punks" and "preps" that resulted in the death of 19-year-old Brian Deneke may be the biggest homicide story of 1997 in Amarillo.
Deneke died Dec. 12 after being struck by a car about 11 p.m. in the Western Plaza Shopping Center parking lot, according to an Amarillo Police Department report.
Before Deneke's death, about 20 teen-agers - some armed with bats and clubs - allegedly fought in the mall's parking lot, the report stated. The fight started in the parking lot of International House of Pancakes, 2100 S. Western St., then moved across the street, according to police reports.
Dustin Michael Camp, a 17-year-old Tascosa High School student, was charged with Deneke's death. Camp was arrested Dec. 13 and released from the Potter County Detention Center after posting a $100,000 bond, according to a detention center spokeswoman.
Deneke's appearance, which included colored, spiked hair and sometimes a black leather jacket, may have been the reason he was killed, a friend of his said.
Camp, who has been barred from the campus of Tascosa High School for the remainder of the school year, maintained mostly A's and some B's as a junior. His teachers described him as quiet, well-mannered and clean-cut.
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