David Cash, Jr.
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For the professional wrestler, see David Cash
David Cash, Jr. is an American who witnessed his friend Jeremy Strohmeyer molest a 7-year-old girl, Sherrice Iverson in a bathroom at a Nevada casino on 1997-05-25 shortly before she was murdered. Strohmeyer was later convicted of the murder and sentenced to four separate life sentences.
[edit] Sherrice Iverson Murder
While not directly aiding Strohmeyer in Iverson's molestation and murder, by his own admission, Cash did nothing to stop his friend either. He claimed "I don't feel there is much I could have done differently."[1]
Cash reportedly told a grand jury that he did not see Strohmeyer molesting Iverson, only that he saw her being restrained and muffled by his friend in a bathroom stall. This turned out not to be true. Jeremy Phillips, a friend of both Cash and Strohmeyer, told an investigator that Cash did witness Strohmeyer fondling the little girl; he reportedly heard the story from Cash in a telephone conversation shortly after the murder occurred. Phillips also said Cash wanted to see Strohmeyer get acquitted. Phillips cited a pattern of unusual and cruel behavior between Cash and Strohmeyer, such as driving up to a prostitute grabbing her purse, and then driving away with her still holding the purse, while on at least on occasion, they drove over a prostitute's unspecified body part. [2]
Cash never testified at Strohmeyer's trial. At the time, there was no law in the state of Nevada against not reporting a crime. However, Cash's inaction led to the passage of Nevada State Assembly Bill 267, introduced by Nevada State Assembly Majority Leader Richard Perkins (D-Henderson). The law requires individuals to report to authorities when they have reasonable suspicion that a child younger than 18 is being sexually abused or violently treated. Violating the law can lead to a fine and possible jail time.
[edit] Personal life
David Cash went on to study nuclear engineering at the University of California, Berkeley. The incident would very likely have ended with David Cash, Jr. fading into obscurity had it not been for a fellow student who reported on it to the student senate in September of 1998. [3] This arroused a great deal of outrage on campus from students who objected to Cash being their fellow student. Calls were made for the Senate to pass a resolution asking Cash to leave U.C. Berkeley voluntarily. [4]. People came from as far away as Los Angeles to participate in demonstrations against Cash. The outrage against Cash at Berkeley caught international media attention. [5]
By several accounts, Cash showed no remorse and made no excuses during the outrage over him. Rather, he revelled in it. Cash claimed the publicity over the incident made it easier for him to "score with women." He told the press that he wanted to sell the movie rights to the incident: "I'm no idiot… I'll get my money out of this." [6] To date, no movie is known to have been made about David Cash, Jr, Jeremy Strohmeyer, or Sherrice Iverson.
