As a youngster LaMar Morton was known as the preacher by his neighborhood thug friends and his police record. He was a self-proclaimed minister and bible scholar. However he was not the typical neighborhood "wanna be" thug. He was small for his age and would do whatever it was to an excess to prove how tough he was. His parents were very religious and lived their lives by a demanding biblical code. His father was a Baptist Minister and pastor of a church was a large congregation and his mother was the devoured wife who was actively engaged in most of the church sponsored activities. He was the younger of the four Morton children and the first and only one of the children that rebelled against the strict upbringing. His early life was spent in a series of juvenile delinquent facilities for the numerous petty crimes he had committed. Many of his early disciplinary exhibitions were his intentional demonstrations in response to his parent's demands for compliance. The more demands and restrictions they placed on him the more he would demonstrate that he was never going to blend into the family's way of life. At the age of sixteen, having been suspended from school and labeled as incorrigible by the state child welfare agency His parents agreed to commit him to spend two years at the state rehabilitation farm for boys. The two years away from his parents and their strict biblical living rules gave him the opportunity to experience the life of the other side. By the time he was released he was equipped with much of the knowledge he needed to become a full-fledged criminal and he didn't waste much time putting his newly acquired skills to use.