The Smile That Stirred Cedar Falls
Cedar Falls, Iowa — On the crisp morning of October 15th, everything in town felt perfectly ordinary. The streets were calm, the coffee shops were filling with regulars, and the soft hum of autumn carried through the air. But by nightfall, Cedar Falls would lose its sense of calm — and the face of a smirking twelve-year-old boy would dominate every local headline. Ethan Morales wasn’t supposed to be anywhere near Courtroom 3B. On any other Tuesday, he should’ve been sitting in Mrs. Taylor’s seventh-grade math class, doodling in the margins of his notebook or counting down minutes until lunch. Instead, he sat in front of Judge Patricia Weller, legs too short to touch the floor, his expression unreadable — except for that faint, defiant smirk. That same look would soon define him in the eyes of an entire community. Three weeks earlier, Ethan had joined two older teens — Derek Chang, 16, and Justin…
Cedar Falls, Iowa — On the crisp morning of October 15th, everything in town felt perfectly ordinary. The streets were calm, the coffee shops were filling with regulars, and the soft hum of autumn carried through the air. But by nightfall, Cedar Falls would lose its sense of calm — and the face of a smirking twelve-year-old boy would dominate every local headline. Ethan Morales wasn’t supposed to be anywhere near Courtroom 3B. On any other Tuesday, he should’ve been sitting in Mrs. Taylor’s seventh-grade math class, doodling in the margins of his notebook or counting down minutes until lunch. Instead, he sat in front of Judge Patricia Weller, legs too short to touch the floor, his expression unreadable — except for that faint, defiant smirk. That same look would soon define him in the eyes of an entire community. Three weeks earlier, Ethan had joined two older teens — Derek Chang, 16, and Justin…
