t/w murder, child neglect, emotional abuse, mentions of hallucinations, not proofread I am so fucking tired

a photo of Crystal, taken by her boyfriend, Remus, six months before the murders
June 5th, 1967 - July 1st, 1985

a photo of Emily, taken by her older sister, Elsie, six months before the murders
January 29th, 1990 - January 5th, 2009

Crystal Sara Carter and Emily Sara Rae are both known for the grisly murders they committed at their schools, both in the name of becoming queen of their proms. One responsible for the Brakenreid Prep Prom Murders, one responsible for the Jefferson Academy Prom Murders. One the idol, one the idolizer. Here, we'll take a deeper look into the both of them.

Crystal Carter was born in Charlotte, North Carolina, on June 5th, 1967, the daughter of businessman and Carter Trading CEO, Matthew Carter, and his wife, Sara Harvey, a model. Crystal was an only child, raised to be perfect. She was never given much attention from her parents, and was mostly raised by nannies, one of which, Greta Handschuh, emotionally abused her for about three years.

Emily Rae was born in Charlottesville, Virginia, on January 29th, 1990, the daughter of businessman and CEO of Rae and Sons, John Rae, and his wife, Diana Cheng, a model. Emily was not an only child, she had an older sister named Elsie, whom her parents devoted most of their attention to, mostly leaving Emily to be raised by nannies, the majority of which were emotionally abusive.

Both girls took the being raised by nannies thing as not being good enough. Both girls had very low self-esteem.

At age fourteen, both girls would attend private schools their parents bought their way into. Crystal attended Brakenreid Preparatory School, a boarding school, and Emily attended Jefferson Academy, just a simple private school.

Both girls would quickly rise in the social ranks at their schools.

Let's focus on the idol for a moment; Crystal Carter.

Crystal made friends with author Elizabeth "Lizzie" Micheal and now renowned author, Heather Williams. They became the cliche popular girl trio. Sophomore year, she met her future boyfriend, Remus Brown, now a famous sportscaster.

At her junior prom, Crystal was crowned prom queen. It was then Sara Harvey spoke to her daughter for the first time in three years, though over the phone. She congratulated Crystal. Told her she could be like her some day. Crystal decided then and there she would become a model like her mother.

The next year, Josie Garcia was hit by a bus, and rumors began circulating that she would be named prom queen, because, well, pity votes. Crystal wouldn't have that and neither would her mother. Sara actually came to visit Crystal in her dorm and told her that she would not be coming home that summer if she lost her title as prom queen.

And Crystal spiraled. Though initially employing the help of her friends and Remus, who she'd started dating earlier that year, to help her with becoming prom queen, Crystal began pushing them away, focusing every last bit of energy on prom. She fell into a depression, but wrote in a multitude of diary entries that a sad girl couldn't be prom queen, so she pushed it deep down.

One week before the prom, Crystal got a message from Remus. A message where he told her he was taking Josie Garcia to the prom. And that was the final straw for Crystal. The night of the prom, she got rid of the competition.

Crystal gave Abigail Jenkins a poisoned fruit basket. She stabbed Janis McKnight between the eyes. She drowned Georgia Johnson in her dorm's bathtub. Finally, she cornered Josie in her dorm, while she called the police. Crystal then shot Josie in the head.

When police arrived, they found Crystal in the gym, dancing and wearing the prom queen crown, laughing and crying.

Crystal was taken to an long term psychiatric hospital, where she died of dehydration on July 1st, 1985, at the age of only eighteen years old.

Crystal's parents sent apologies to the families their daughter stole from and released a general statement expressing their remorse shortly after Crystal's death, but have not said much since then. Matthew Carter died of pancreatic cancer in 2005 and today, Sara Harvey is living in London. She has since avoided the media.

Remus said; "I really wish I hadn't told Crystal I was taking Josie. Well, I shouldn't have gone with Josie, period. I should've seen the signs, when Crystal pushed me away, I should've pushed back. Hindsight, it's not a fun thing."

Heather's statement wasn't much different; "I should have seen the signs, I should have talked to Crystal, maybe given her mother a piece of my mind, and tell her to not be such a bitch to her daughter. Looking back on things like this is not fun."

Lizzie would not comment.

Now onto the idolizer; Emily Rae.

Emily made friends with Whitney Sampson and Maxie Vincent. Emily had been friends with Whitney since fifth grade and had met Maxie. Shortly after Emily started at Jefferson Academy, Elsie ended up getting pregnant and dropping out, which placed a whole lot more academic pressure on Emily.

Emily was described by most of her teachers as a leader and good student. In the middle of her Sophomore year, Emily started dating Nathan Harris. And now let's fast forward to 2008; Emily was excited to go to prom, and with a hot date, popularity, charisma, all that, the title of prom queen was as good as hers.

And the Jolene "Jolie" Johnson lost a leg in a car accident. Like with Josie Garcia, rumors began circulating that Jolie would be named prom queen, because pity votes. Emily subsequently spiraled, doing everything she could to become prom queen, keep that idea on her. Like with Crystal, she began pushing her friends and family away. And Nathan told her he was taking Jolie to prom.

Emily continued spiraling, continuing to do every bit of research she was able to on proms, anything she could do to get those precious votes. And she discovered a certain name; a certain Crystal Carter.

She idolized her. She wanted to be like her. Emily Rae wanted to be exactly like Crystal Carter. She often wrote in her diary about Crystal, all her diaries leading up to the murders were all about Crystal. At some point, she began having auditory hallucinations of Crystal speaking to her, though never claimed to have visual hallucinations. But Emily also always said that Crystal was standing right behind her, encouraging her.

So, the night of prom came and thus went Emily's plot;

She gave Paige Hamilton poisoned punch, she beat Rowan Daniels to death with a large rock, she bludgeoned Aria Thomas' brains with a golf club, she strangled and then marinated the remains of Melody Michaels', she drowned Quinn Smith in the pool, she chopped up Unity Goodman and spread her around the school.

As for Jolie, she'd been hiding in the locker room, calling the police. Emily also bludgeoned her to death with a golf club.

When police did arrive, Emily was wearing the prom queen crown and dancing around the gym, screaming with laughter. She was arrested and her trial's verdict, December of that year, she was sentenced to a long term psychiatric hospital.

According to the hospital staff, Emily refused to drink, and refused to eat. She occasionally was force fed, but made herself throw up the food. In her room's shower wall, she carved 'I will die like Crystal'. Emily died due to dehydration at the age of only eighteen.

John and Diana sent apology letters to the families their daughter stole from and did also release a statement after their daughter's death. Today, they are both still alive, and try to advocate for mental health, and have admitted to being shitty parents while Emily was growing up.

Emily has often been referred to as 'bootleg' or 'off-brand' Crystal Carter in pop culture and her family and friends, including Nathan, had spoken out against it, calling it incredibly disrespectful. Remus Brown and Heather Williams also called it disrespectful, Remus saying at some point that it was "Downright despicable."

Nathan Harris and Remus Brown have apparently met a few times, and do consider themselves to be friends, though 'not particularly close'.

Both Crystal and Emily would go on to inspire the song The Ballad of Sara Berry in 35MM: A Musical Exhibition.