Murder of Julie Laible

Laible's 2002 paper, "A Loving Epistemology: What I Hold Critical in My Life, Faith, and Profession," was republished in Reconsidering Feminist Research in Educational Leadership, by Michelle D. Young and Linda Skrla, (State University of New York Press (2003), along with three chapters responding to Laible's ideas, "Life Lessons and a Loving Epistemology: A Response to Julie Laible’s Loving Epistemology," "Research on Women and Administration: A Response to Julie Laible’s Loving Epistemology ," and "The Emperor and Research on Women in School Leadership: A Response to Julie Laible’s Loving Epistemology."

Jesus Dominguez (19) of Ellenton, Florida, was charged with driving the truck in which Juan Cardenas and another boy (a juvenile at the time) rode on the night of the murder. During the 16 months following his arrest, Dominguez was permitted to move about freely wearing an ankle bracelet that recorded whether he was in his home or had left the house, but not his precise whereabouts. On August 30, 2000 the night before he was scheduled to plead guilty to second-degree murder, Dominguez fled. He was arrested in Brownsville, Texas in August 2001. Dominguez was extradited back to Manatee County. Dominguez pleaded no contest to a charge of second degree murder and driving the car on the night of the attack. Dominguez was sentenced to serve 21 years in prison.

Laible's death shocked Tuscaloosa, home of the University of Alabama, where the trials were followed closely. Laible was an assistant professor of Educational Leadership and Policy at University of Alabama from 1995 until her death in 1999. She is remembered for her anti-racism scholarship and activism.

Laible, who grew up in Marshall County, Illinois, and earned her PhD at the University of Texas in 1995, was an Assistant Professor of Education at the University of Alabama from 1995 until her death. Her work centered on finding ways to help minority youth, especially Mexican-Americans, to acquire the education and skills that lead to productive lives. Laible's ethics-centered approach to research, explored by K.C. Mansfield in a chapter entitled, The Potency of Love and the Power of a Thousand; Reflections on Gustav Mahler and Leadership of Social Justice, describing Laible's call to fellow researchers to examine their own attitudes, thoughts, feelings and intentions before entering a setting where they would conduct fieldwork.

Julie Catherine Laible (December 20, 1966 – March 28, 1999) was a professor at University of Alabama killed by a large rock thrown at her car from an overpass while she was driving along Interstate 75 in Manatee County, Florida, on March 28, 1999.