Dewayne Pomeroy, a resilient and resourceful individual, navigated the unforgiving streets of Seattle during the 1980s. His remarkable story was immortalized in the documentary "Streetwise", where he was portrayed as a street-smart kid who relied on panhandling, or "spare changed" as he preferred to call it, to sustain himself daily.
Growing up without a stable family environment, Dewayne was left to fend for himself, forced to roam from abandoned house to house, and eventually, to sleep on the streets. His mother had abandoned him, and his father was incarcerated, leaving Dewayne to face the harsh realities of life on his own.
As the documentary crew captured his story, Dewayne's struggles continued, and ultimately, he took his own life while incarcerated in a juvenile facility, mere days before his scheduled release. The filmmakers believed that Dewayne was unable to cope with the prospect of returning to the streets.
Dewayne's funeral was attended by a mere four people, including two guards from the juvenile facility, who had been tasked with overseeing his father. Dewayne's father, overcome with remorse, apologized to his son as he lay in his coffin, before the final farewell.
The poignant story of Dewayne Pomeroy was later adapted into the movie "American Heart", with Edward Furlong portraying the troubled young man.
