Fla. Mother and Son Are Attacked

A young girl plays on one of the many clothes lines in Dunbar Village in West Palm Beach, Fla. Saturday, July 7, 2007. Residents of the community complain that kids have nothing to do, and this is one of the reasons for the recent gang rape of a woman living in the complex. In the year leading up to the gang rape, police were called to Dunbar Village 717 times. (AP Photo/J. Pat Carter) (J. Pat Carter - AP)

Almost 60 percent of the households in the area that includes Dunbar Village were below the poverty level in 2000, according to Census figures. Only 19 percent of the area's residents had high school degrees. About 9 percent of the adults were unemployed, nearly triple the state average.

Teenagers with gold-plated teeth wander the streets. Drug dealers hang out on nearby sidewalks. Trash bin lids are open. Flies hover over dirty diapers. Clothes dry on sagging lines.

Since the June 18 attack, police have increased patrols in the area, blocked off one entrance and will soon install surveillance cameras.

"It took this to make that happen?" Matlock, a 32-year-old single mother of three, snarled.

As in other blighted neighborhoods across the country where criminals seem to have free rein, residents here live in fear. Snitches get stitches, they say. Or worse.

"I try to be in my house no later than 7, and I don't come out," said Citoya Greenwood, 33, who lives in Dunbar with her 4-year-old daughter. "I don't even answer my door anymore." On the Fourth of July, "we didn't know if we was hearing gunshots or fireworks."

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Avion Lawson, 14, and Nathan Walker, 16, will be charged as adults in the assault and gang rape, prosecutors said. They are jailed without bail.

Lawson's DNA was found in a condom at the crime scene, and he admitted involvement, authorities say. Police say Walker's palm print was discovered inside the home. He denies being there. His attorney says he will plead not guilty. Lawson's public defender did not return telephone messages.

Walker and Lawson did not live at Dunbar but visited often. Lawson stayed with his grandmother there. Walker came to hang out and play basketball. Dunbar has become the place to be for wayward black teens, residents and neighborhood kids say.

Walker and Lawson both grew up mostly fatherless, bouncing between homes. Walker's family sometimes lived in old cars or abandoned houses, said his mother, Ruby Nell Walker.

"We've never really had a real home," said Naporcha Walker, Nathan's 15-year-old sister.