Steven Bernard McClendon, a two-year-old African American boy, was a bright presence in the lives of those who knew him. He lived with his mother in Fort Worth, Texas, part of a close-knit family. But on October 8, 1974, Steven’s life was brutally cut short in an act of unimaginable violence that also claimed the lives of four of his family members. The horrific crime took place inside their apartment at the Riverside Village complex, a place that should have been a sanctuary.
That evening, a family acquaintance named Kenneth Granviel, a 24-year-old man they had known for about three years, came to their door asking for a glass of water. Once inside, he revealed a knife and his savage intentions. Granviel first encountered Steven and his 22-year-old mother, Laura McClendon. He forced Laura to tie up her own son with a telephone cord before binding her as well. As the evening progressed, more family members arrived home: Steven’s aunt, 24-year-old Martha McClendon, with her own two-year-old daughter, Natasha; and their cousin, 19-year-old Linda McClendon. Granviel systematically bound and gagged each of them as they entered.
The apartment descended into a scene of terror. Granviel assaulted Laura and Martha. When little Natasha began to cry, he stabbed the toddler to death. He then strangled Linda with a piece of cloth. He turned his rage on Steven, shoving the little boy into a closet and stabbing him repeatedly with such force that the knife handle broke. Undeterred, Granviel retrieved another knife from the kitchen. He continued his assault on Laura before killing her, and then, after a chilling conversation with Martha, he stabbed her to death as well. Before leaving the scene of the massacre, Granviel stole money and valuables from the women's purses. The five bodies were discovered the next day when the women's stepfather arrived to drive them to work.
The initial investigation by Fort Worth police went astray, leading to the wrongful arrest of two Mexican nationals. Meanwhile, Kenneth Granviel, the actual perpetrator, moved freely within the community, even callously remarking to acquaintances that the killer "ought to be hung." His mask of normalcy finally slipped four months later. In February 1975, Granviel was arrested by police after committing another series of violent crimes, including two more murders and several sexual assaults. During questioning, he confessed in detail to the slaughter of the McClendon family.
Granviel was charged with seven counts of capital murder. For procedural reasons, prosecutors focused on the murder of two-year-old Natasha McClendon. At his trial, Granviel claimed he couldn't stop himself from killing the little girl, testifying, "I could see it happening, but there was nothing I could do about it." A jury found him guilty and sentenced him to death in 1976. However, this conviction was overturned by a federal appeals court in 1981 due to improper jury selection.
Justice for Steven and his family was delayed but not denied. Granviel was retried for Natasha's murder in 1983, found guilty of capital murder once again, and returned to death row. Over the next thirteen years, his case wound through the appellate courts with numerous legal challenges concerning his mental competency and the constitutionality of the death penalty. All his appeals were ultimately exhausted.
On February 27, 1996, twenty-two years after he extinguished five lives in a Fort Worth apartment, Kenneth Granviel was executed by lethal injection at the Huntsville Unit in Texas. He declined to make a final statement. The case, which began with the brutal murder of a two-year-old boy and his loving family, officially came to a close, leaving a permanent scar on the community and serving as a grim reminder of the devastating impact of violent crime. As of February 1996, the case is considered solved and closed.
