Beard Using 'Jena Six' Defense Funds For Schooling
by Mandy M. Goodnight - The Town Talk (excerpt)

Jesse Ray Beard is using his portion of the Jena Six Defense Fund to attend a private boarding school in Connecticut, which has piqued the interest of the attorney representing Justin Barker.

Cost to attend Canterbury School is $39,900 a year, according to the school's Web site.

Beard is the youngest of the six Jena High School students who are accused of attacking Barker in December 2006 at the school. The six students -- known as the "Jena Six" -- are black, and Barker is white.

Five of the six students are awaiting trial, while Mychal Bell pleaded guilty to a juvenile charge in connection with the incident.

The incident sparked international attention and led to a march of more than 20,000 in the rural LaSalle Parish town of Jena.

The Barkers have sued four of the Jena Six defendants and all six families. Bell and Beard are not listed in the lawsuit because they were minors at the time of the 2006 attack.