By 12 years old, he was taking Risperdal, an anti-psychotic drug to treat schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, his father said in court records. He often missed school and resisted treatment, sometimes curling into a ball. His father said the boy would appear to be “looking right through you.”
In April 2006, he locked himself in his mother’s Volkswagen Jetta to avoid an appointment with a therapist, according to court records.
A raft of psychologists and counselors offered various opinions on his behavior over the years. In court records, one therapist described 12-year-old David Katz as suffering a “psychiatric crisis.” The therapist concluded in 2006 that the boy’s depression interfered with his ability to eat, sleep and rise from bed.
