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Inside Today: A special 3-Part Story About the Killing of a Teenager Begins.

 
Published Aug. 20, 1995|Updated Oct. 4, 2005

Douglas Vetromile Jr., a 16-year-old Plant High student, was shot and killed on the night of Oct. 10, 1994 as he and three friends tried to buy $10 of marijuana in a Tampa housing project. How could a boy with a genius IQ have placed himself in such a dangerous situation?

In a three-part series called "Sons and Shadows" starting today, Times reporter Bill Duryea tells the story of how Doug Vetromile and his friends came to venture into a world they little understood and too little feared. It is a story of teenagers and drugs in the 1990s, and the struggle by parents to keep the two apart. "Sons and Shadows" also explores the sadly ironic life _ oddly similar and dissimilar to Doug's _ of the young man accused in the killing.

The series is told in a narrative form, not unlike a novel. But it is a factual story. The three installments of "Sons and Shadows" will appear as a pullout section wrapped around the regular Floridian section today, Tuesday and Wednesday.

We commend it to your attention.

- The Editors