Very few people know about the Rochelle Graham case. It's a story out of the late 1970s that I remember hearing about...a case that I never forgot. In the late 1970s, Rochelle Graham, a 9-year-old Philadelphia girl, was found murdered in a burning building. Her abductor and killer, Kevin Hughes, was a local teen who delivered groceries to women in the neighborhood.
The Girl Under the Cardboard Box
The story made small headlines outside of Philadelphia. In 2020, I had the chance to speak with Rochelle's mother, Diane Graham, who thanked me for remembering her daughter's story. Now, the original documentary I created for this story in 2023 is no longer available. What remains, though, are my personal notes from that interview with Diane Graham, as well as court records and other source material that I used to build that original story.
So, let's begin.
Life was hard for many people in North Philadelphia in 1979. By then, the area was filled with crime, and abandoned buildings and empty houses were scattered throughout the neighborhood. Despite that, though, North Philly was a place of treasured memories for many people.
They valued community and family. And when you feel at home, there is an expectation of safety. But what was looming ahead for the city was a case so shocking and heartbreaking that it marked a time in history that most Philadelphians will never forget.
On the morning of March 1st, 1979, 911 operators received a frantic call about a vacant house on fire. Firefighters arrived and rushed to put out the blaze. They made their way up to the upper level. And in the back room, they found a pile of debris on the floor. They lifted the cardboard box, and there they found a girl lying face up, her smoldering clothing placed on top of her, her school books scattered nearby. They already knew her name.
It's written in her own handwriting inside her school books. The victim is Rochelle Graham. She attended Lydia Dara Elementary School in Philadelphia. This fire investigation is now a murder investigation. But the question is, who would do that to Rochelle Graham? She's a 9-year-old girl. She's a Girl Scout. She's a student. She's a good student, and she's supposed to be at school. What is she doing here?
Those were the questions school officials were going to have to answer. Investigators swarmed the school. They were questioning everyone. They wanted to know if anybody saw her that morning. Yes, someone had. We know Rochelle made it to school. She was seen eating breakfast in the school cafeteria that morning.
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| Rochelle Graham |
Now, the typical breakfast hours at that school were between 8:15 and 8:42 a.m. The bell rang. The students spilled out into the schoolyard for a few minutes of recess. And when it was time to line up and head to their first-period class, Rochelle was nowhere to be found. No one remembered seeing Rochelle in the classroom. Worse than that, no one had informed Diane that her daughter was absent that day. So, detectives were already hours behind.
How did Rochelle get from the school to this vacant building? Detectives continued to question everyone. Diane Graham was beside herself with grief. She was so distraught that she called one of her best friends to come to the home that night to help comfort her. She just couldn't understand who would do something like that to Rochelle. They had only been living in that red-brick home for a year or two.
They lived next door to Diane's mother and sister. If I'm recalling correctly, Diane told me back in 2020 that Rochelle was taken to school that morning. Normally, she walked, but that particular day, she was dropped off. Diane had tried to get Rochelle to stay home to prepare for a weekend trip to go shopping, but Rochelle insisted on going to school that morning.
Rochelle's grandmother recalled the last words Rochelle said to her that morning. She said, "Gram, I'm going to school this morning because I have to pass the test."
Rochelle's grandmother recalled the last words Rochelle said to her that morning. She said, "Gram, I'm going to school this morning because I have to pass the test."
Rochelle Graham was a very smart girl. She was always smiling. And she was just a good person to be around. She loved to play, and she loved playing around with her friends, her family, and her brother. One of the neighbors recalled that Rochelle always went to the store for her. She was very honest. She would come back and give her the correct change. She didn't try to keep the change.
Outrage
Weeks later, detectives are still trying to piece together what happened. And by now, they have the medical examiner's report. And the report concludes that Rochelle's life ended before the fire was set. So the cause of her demise was getting this news was unimaginable for Diane and her small son.
A few hundred people showed up to the services for Rochelle Graham. The community wanted to pay their respects. Everybody was heartbroken over what happened. Weeks passed without any clues or resolution. The reward money had increased from $2,000 to $15,000 for any information on the case, and the school had established the Rochelle Graham Award for Good Citizenship to keep her memory alive.
Lydia Darrah Elementary School parents were frightened, they were angry, and they were upset. This happened to Rochelle, but this could have happened to any one of their kids. And they were angry because they believed that the school wasn't paying enough attention to the children.
Back in those days, they did not have the security in place that they have now. It is said that back in 1979, the kids were able to just sort of come and go as they pleased. Angry parents filed into the office, demanding to speak with the principal. They wanted to know why there was not enough staff.
There was only one non-teacher’s assistant watching the kids. He said he did the best he could. He did what he could do. He didn't see anything out of the ordinary. And the principal said that there was no way that they could watch all of the children all of the time. This made the parents even angrier.
Meanwhile, there were still no clues. There was no DNA like we have today. The police did not have fingerprints from the scene, no link to anyone, no physical evidence that could tell them who had done this. The only thing they had was a strange set of letters that had been burned into the ceiling. After that, the Rochelle Graham case goes cold.
Girl 13
On January 5th, 1980, a youth called Girl 13 walked into DJ's Mini Restaurant to order her favorite Philly cheesesteak. The owner was out of oil for the grill, so he gave Girl 13 $2 and sent her to Woodstock Grocery to buy some oil. This was normal for the kids back then. They didn't mind running errands for the older ones. It was fun for them. It was part of the neighborhood activities. But minutes passed, and Girl 13 didn't return.
What no one knows is Girl 13 is lying in a closet on the floor in an empty house. What happened to her was so severe she's in and out of consciousness. She's in this closet under a pile of clothing. She tries not to move because the person who did this to her is still in the house. She feels him standing over her to see if she's still alive. So, she plays dead. Finally, she passes out. And when she comes to, and it's obvious that the person has left the building, she grabs her things and runs for her life.
When she appears in the doorway of the Philly cheesesteak grill, she is frantic. Girl 13 is carrying clothes in her hand. The owner said, "But what happened to you, sweetheart? What happened?" She told the owner the guy from the neighborhood had grabbed her and pushed her into this empty house. He assaulted her, even stepping on her face with his shoes.
Then, he robbed her of $2.
But that didn't stop Girl 13. She was brave. She gave a description of the person. And more than that, she told him she knew who it was. She had met him a year earlier and said it was a teenager she talked to all the time while sitting outside, but she didn't know his name.
Almost a week later, the owner of the grill tells investigators that the description sounds like a guy from the neighborhood named Peanut.
Hmmm, Peanut.
That was the only name the neighborhood kids knew him by. This was a strong lead for detectives.
Investigators searched through their police files, and nothing turned up for anyone by the name Peanut. They figured if he was a local teen, he should be in one of the school yearbooks. So, they grabbed a junior high school yearbook and showed Girl 13 the pictures. She recognized him immediately and pointed him out. "That's him right there." The investigators quickly went to the young man's home to question him. And when they arrived and looked in his bedroom, they saw the same letters burned into his bedroom ceiling.
Girl 11 (1976 Case)
Now, that's familiar to detectives. Someone burned the letters PEA in the ceiling at the Rochelle Graham murder location. It turns out Kevin Hughes does have a criminal history, and it's a troubling one. Three years earlier, in 1976, there was reportedly another victim, an 11-year-old girl we'll call Girl 11. She also lived nearby and knew him.
According to Girl 11, Kevin abducted her, pushed her into a vacant building, and mistreated her. In that case, he was placed on psychiatric probation. He reportedly did well and was considered rehabilitated before being released back on the street.
Now, at the time Rochelle disappeared, Kevin wasn't just some kid from the neighborhood. He was a teen with a documented criminal history, a dangerous past that somehow had not been flagged by authorities. So, these cases are all connected. Girl 13's story sounds just like Girl 11's story, and both of those stories sound like the circumstances in the Rochelle Graham case.
The only difference: Rochelle did not live to tell.
Nearly 11 months after the murder, detectives arrested Kevin. He was still a teen, but the law planned to treat him as an adult. Rochelle Graham's family was shocked. It's like, Kevin who? Not Kevin Hughes, not the family friend, not the neighborhood grocery guy. They've known him for years.
“Afternoon, Miss Hines…Miss Gloria,” says Kevin. (as dramatized in the video)
What was even more shocking about this story was that Diane Graham told me that Kevin had been to her house the day they found Rochelle. He was there as a family friend, showing concern about what happened…watching the family grieve.
He disappeared after that, by the way. Just vanished.
No more working at the store.
No more fixing the kids' toys.
No more taking the local kids to the movies.
No more playing around with the kids.
Just gone.
Now, where he was during his absence, no one knows. But when Diane's sister bumped into him that next fall, he immediately put up his hands.
She asked him, "Well, where have you been? Why did you stop coming by, Kevin?" And he didn't answer. He twisted his hands and couldn't even look at her, really. They called him on the phone after that and asked him again what had happened. This time, he said that he had been busy working. It all made sense now, though.
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| Kevin Peanut Hughes |
Background of Kevin Peanut Hughes
Not much is known about Kevin Hughes's background. The little information that exists comes from his family members. What we know is this: Kevin Hughes was born on March 5th, 1962. According to court records, he had five siblings. They all lived with their mother, Rebecca. Each child had a different father. Kevin did not know who his father was. His mother had her own mental health issues. She suffered from schizophrenia and would often disappear for months at a time. She also used illegal substances in front of the children and even offered them to Kevin.
Kevin also witnessed his mother's attempts to unalive herself several times. He even tried to unalive himself in response. He was mistreated and targeted by the men in her life, and on some occasions, his mother even asked him to witness her encounters. These experiences had a tremendous effect on Kevin. He was often targeted by others because he was considered mentally slow, and he just didn't have the support at home. Sources revealed Kevin was often found looking for food on the streets. In short, there was no one to ensure he got to school on time or at all because his mom was unable to care for him.
Around the age of nine, Kevin was removed from his California home and sent to live with his grandmother and uncle in Philadelphia. The year was 1979, and he had been there for the last eight years. This is all coming from the family's affidavits. When Kevin arrived in Philadelphia, it did not seem that life had improved for him much. His situation didn't really get better. They did the best that they could. One uncle said Kevin had the mind of a child. Even though he was growing older, his behavior was still that of a small child. At least one of his uncles tried to keep Kevin in check, but nothing seemed to help—no therapy, no guidance. They felt that he had not been rehabilitated.
When police were asking questions around the neighborhood about their suspect, they found that some of the ladies liked him. He was kind and helpful. He worked most of the time, and he liked earning money. One woman said he even gave her daughter money. At the time, he didn’t seem to be in trouble like the other neighborhood boys. He seemed responsible and even gave her daughter money. In fact, she liked him so much she wanted her daughter to date him.
One thing I found interesting when I was talking to Rochelle's mother, Diane, is that she wasn't as impressed with Kevin as everyone else was. She always felt something was off. She told me about a time that Kevin took the neighborhood kids to the movies. When she found out what the movie was, she felt that it was inappropriate. The first thing she thought was, "Why did he take them to see that?" I don't remember the name of the movie, but I do have her quote. Her direct words to me were, "I thought it was weird. I thought he was weird. Period."
In 2015, I was invited to appear on the Lifetime television series Killer Kids to speak as an expert. Kevin's family also appeared in that episode. According to them, they were in shock over the allegations. When Kevin was arrested, they really couldn't believe that he would be capable of doing that. When they went to see him, Kevin seemed out of it. Kevin's uncle, Bernard Hughes, recounts the conversation with Kevin on Killer Kids:
He appeared to me like he was thinking, “Did you do that?” He said, “Yeah.” I asked, “Why did you do it?” He said, “I don't know.”
The family encouraged Kevin, saying, "Look, Kevin, just tell them what you know. Tell them what happened. Be honest about it." And he did. He finally confessed. His confession was taped, and he also wrote an 11-page letter. The following are his statements from that confession letter.
Contents of Kevin Hughes' Confession Letter
He says, "When I seen her, I was going to school. I seen Rochelle in front of her school. I told her to come here. I asked her to walk me to the store. We walked down a little street and there was an old house…door open…and I told her to come in here. We went to the third floor and I closed the door and I told her to take off her clothes. She took them off and I took mine off."
So basically, Kevin tried to have his way with her, but he was unable to. He tells police, "Then, I put my arm around her and she fell to the floor by the bed." Wow.
The house where the crime occurred was vacant, and there was some old furniture in that house, and there were people living nearby in other houses. Kevin Hughes set that fire to hide what he had done to her.
Detectives continued to probe. They asked him more about what he did to Rochelle Graham while he was in the house. He claimed that he found a poster and started placing these papers around her. The police asked him, "Well, why did you do that? Why?" Kevin said, "Something just told me to light it." They wanted to know what he did next. He said, "I wrote my name on the ceiling in front of the closet, like by the window." Then he placed the clothes on top of her, threw her books on the floor beside the bed, and set the blaze.
Wow…
Philly investigators wanted to know because they were trying to see whether or not he premeditated this. Was this something he did on impulse, or was it premeditated?
So they asked him,
"When did you first decide to do this?"
He said, "When I seen her."
And they said, "Well, why?"
He said, "Something told me to."
When they asked him how long he squeezed, he said, "A long time."
"Does that happen often to you?" the officer asked.
"No, just when I get mad or angry."
Officers continued, "Well, were you angry at Rochelle?"
Kevin said, "I was just mad at myself for what I had done."
Then he went to school. He got a late slip for missing his first class, and he headed to class. "I had to go to the late office," he said. "I got it off a man and gave it to my adviser,” Hughes told detectives.
Kevin Hughes Trial
Upon hearing this, the prosecutors knew immediately that this was premeditated, and they were going to seek the death penalty in this case. By March of 1980, Kevin was going to be tried as an adult. He is escorted into court. Rochelle's family is overcome with emotion. One news article said Rochelle's mother, Diane, lunged at Kevin Hughes in the courtroom. Diane was a small woman, but she had big motherly energy that day in court.
At trial, Kevin was on medication for depression. When he arrived in the courtroom, he looked like he had been attacked. The writers from the Philadelphia Daily News described what was going on in the courtroom. It was obvious someone had jumped him. It was later revealed that 15 prisoners recognized him and attacked him. The defense didn't believe that Kevin was capable of writing an 11-page confession.
Standing at only 5'6" tall (some say he was 5'4"), they believed he was too short to have left his infamous smoky signature on the ceiling. Plus, he had an alibi, the defense argued. But the prosecution was strong. They showed that Kevin had arrived at school late and missed his first class. So, there was an opportunity.
Kevin “Peanut” Hughes stood before the judge with his hands on his hips and sobbed heavily. According to the writers of this article, it was almost as if he did not know how he got himself into that situation. Some of the jurors had sympathy for him. These jurors, nine women and three men, did not see any other way out other than to give Kevin what he gave to Rochelle...death.
The prosecutor's position was, "Look, what happened to him was messed up. No doubt about it. His life—it wasn't good. But we as human beings don't take people's lives because someone had a bad upbringing." There are plenty of people who grow up in that exact same situation, but they don't do this. There has to be a sense that a person can control themselves in society. And so that is why prosecutors were asking the state to end Kevin's life.
The man known as "Peanut" stayed on death row for many years, but his death sentence was overturned because he was only 16 at the time of the murder. After the 2005 Supreme Court ruling that banned the death penalty for juveniles, his sentence was changed to life in prison.
Rochelle Graham's family was just so glad that they were finally getting justice for Rochelle, for Girl 13, possibly Girl 11, and for any future girls who might have crossed Kevin's path. I could not find anything in the official record that stated whether Kevin continued to use illegal substances after leaving his mother in California.
Remember earlier, Kevin mentioned that something told him to do it, as if he was under some sort of invisible influence. His mother reportedly introduced her kids to these substances at a young age. Today, we know that using certain substances, especially under the age of 25, can cause a lot of damage. Psychiatric experts say that if there is any type of mental illness that runs in a family, these substances can ignite it. Sometimes, family members don't even know it runs in the family because, if they've never used the substances, the disease somehow stays subdued—perhaps just lurking under the surface until something turns it on.
All right, let's go back to Kevin's statement that the voice told him to do it.
He Signed His Name In Smoke
Was it all in his mind, or was it something that he truly believed had control over him? You know, we'll never know. In his own words, he mentioned using incense instead of a lighter to burn the letters PEA in the ceiling in his bedroom. It tells us he was not only deliberate in what he was doing, but maybe even ritualistic in how he acted. He told his brother that he had magical powers protecting him. His brother didn't believe it. All the things that had happened to Kevin and all the things he did to other people, his brother didn't believe for one second that anyone or anything was protecting him at all.
The murder took place at 1617 Olive Street near 16th. It was there that he left his infamous signature. He had signed his name in smoke. That's one of the things that made this case so bizarre. He signed his name in smoke.
Detectives asked him about the letters PEA that he had scrawled into the ceiling. He said, "I wrote it backwards. I used incense." He told them that at the Rochelle Graham scene, he may have used a lighter, but in his bedroom, he used incense. This was seemingly something he did often to the walls.
Now, whether that was something Kevin learned, imagined, or believed because of his mental struggles, it kind of shows how detached he is from reality—and perhaps, I’m going to go a step further---perhaps how betrayed he felt. After all, it was not another teenager offering him these substances; it was his own mom. And he was offered these things possibly as early as nine or younger. What happened to Rochelle in that room that day is something that should never happen to anyone. Examining the whys and hows of what Kevin did, it doesn’t betray Rochelle’s memory.
Examining this case and why he did it can help society avoid recreating these tragic situations and dangerous lifestyles, but it does little to ease the pain of Rochelle's family. It doesn’t bring her back.
This was a difficult case to talk about. It was a difficult case to revisit. It’s been a long time, and many of the faces from that period have been forgotten. But one face that should never fade from our memories is this one: little Rochelle Graham.