Community Corner

Before the Break: Highs and Hopes of Daniel Dewitt

Friends of the Dewitt family remember Daniel as a "shy" and "sweet" boy. Five years after he was diagnosed with schizophrenia in his late teens, the 23-year-old is charged with the murder of a Berkeley Hills man.

 

Daniel Dewitt was in high school when he started becoming reclusive and depressed. His mother, Candy Dewitt, became concerned that something wasn't right, recalled Janice Wilkes, a friend of the Dewitt family. 

At 18, he was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. Since, Dewitt has been in and out of mental health facilities at least nine times and he has been charged with harassment and battery. On Feb. 18, while searching for his imaginary girlfriend.

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Before his first schizophrenic episode and subsequent deterioration into an almost perpetual state of delusion, Daniel Dewitt was a regular kid, according to acquaintances and friends.

Jose Diaz has known Dewitt since second grade, attending the same schools and remaining close friends after high school. According to Diaz, Dewitt was an apt sportsman, but his real passion lay in digital music production.

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"He especially liked making music," said Diaz, speaking of a hobby that centered around Dewitt's home studio set up on his computer. According to family friends, Dewitt aspired to be a music producer and took classes to learn the skills and trade.

Even after Dewitt's delusional behavior began, Diaz was able to maintain a relationship with his friend and still do things like go out to eat and socialize, he says. "He'd be a cool person to hang out with," said Diaz. When Dewitt started talking about his imaginary girlfriend Zoey, Diaz would "go along with it."

"As a friend, the only thing I can do is hear him out," said Diaz. "I can't judge him or get mad at him."

In recent years, however, Dewitt's "ideas started changing," recalls Diaz. As a young adult, Dewitt wanted to spend more time alone, and lost interest in his former hobbies.

"He wasn't the same person any more," said Diaz. "He didn't have the same enthusiasm. He just started changing little by little."

But, despite the more reclusive, distanced behavior, Diaz says Dewitt never seemed a threat. "Daniel was never like that — he was never violent," said Diaz. "He was a real caring guy. He was shy at times, so it was hard for him to show it."

Alice Lewis, whose daughter was in the same class as Daniel at St. Joseph's Elementary School in Alameda, remembers Dewitt as "sweet and cooperative" boy. She says:

I was shocked when I read about the assault in the Chronicle, and heartbroken for both his parents and the family of the victim. It's so easy to think of "bad guys" are one dimensional. Most of the time, fortunately, we have no connection to either the victim or the criminal. It's much, much harder when you read a story like this, see a grainy photo of an alleged assailant on the news or in the paper, and all you can think of is a little boy in a Catholic school uniform working on an art project or eating a cupcake.

Janice Wilkes has been a friend of the Dewitt family since before they had children. She says of Daniel:

He was shy, sweet, always played well with others and had no problems. He was just the nicest kid. He was one of the shy ones, but he always participated and followed all the rules. Easy to care for. Loved sports and music.

Anna Carlson went to Alameda Hgh School with Dewitt:

I remember him as a nice, shy guy. I never knew he suffered from mental illness. I am surprised and saddened to hear of what has happened and at Daniel's involvement.

After his arrest on Saturday, Feb. 18 in the Berkeley hills, that "he was a psychic and he was told to go through the (Cukors’) front gate to find Zoey.”

On Feb. 23, an Alameda County judge delayed legal proceedings against Dewitt in order to allow time for a mental health assessment. 



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