Kohler does not appear to have been prosecuted for a crime related to the complaints.
Kohler, 59, declined to be interviewed. A lawyer she has hired to handle news media inquiries and film and book proposals based on her son’s story said he had not seen allegations of abuse against Kohler in public records.
Several neighbors on Haven Place, the gravel road on the southern end of Camano Island where Harris-Moore grew up and his mother still lives, recalled often hearing mother and son screaming at each other into the night.
All spoke on condition of anonymity because they said they feared Kohler.
A hand-painted sign at the end of her wooded driveway warns: “If you go past this sign you will be shot.”
Records and interviews show Harris-Moore was disciplined frequently in school.
One fifth-grade classmate, Mariah Campbell, said other students made fun of Harris-Moore’s dirty clothing, adding that he could be mean to classmates.
“Because he never did his homework, he never got to go to recess or anything,” Campbell said.
About age 12, Harris-Moore had several psychiatric conditions, including depression, attention deficit disorder and intermittent explosive disorder, according to a later psychiatric report. He was prescribed antidepressant and antipsychotic drugs.
He dropped out of school after ninth grade.
“He never wanted to go home,” said Christa Postma, adding she became friends with Harris-Moore in middle school “because we both got in trouble all the time.”
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