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Keith is Lauren’s younger half-brother, and the biological son of Reverend Olamina and Cory. Even at a young age, Keith shows a disconcerting interest in violence and insists that he be allowed to join the adults and teenagers at shooting practice. He has little patience for school and education, and he takes pleasure in bullying his siblings. While he never alerts the rest of the neighborhood to Lauren’s hyperempathy, he uses his sister’s condition to his advantage, playing cruel tricks that cause her pain. Lauren believes that Keith is likely some sort of sociopath, as his aggression, apathy, and recklessness seem to be inherent, rather than socialized, traits.

Despite Keith’s many worrying behaviors, Cory not only coddles but even favors her troublemaking son, a fact that baffles Lauren. Cory has a special bond with her firstborn child that even Keith’s violent nature cannot break. In fact, while Keith is indifferent or hostile to Lauren, Marcus, and even his father, he maintains a reciprocal affectionate relationship with Cory even after he leaves the Olamina household for good. While Keith’s penchant for violence leads him to abandon the neighborhood and presumably turn to dealing drugs for money, he puts himself at risk to bring that money home to his mother. While Keith’s destructive tendencies put him and his family at risk, they are not entirely without cause. Keith desperately wishes to prove himself as a man, but in his immaturity and sociopathy, he cannot discern between a killer and a protector. While Keith is undoubtedly an abhorrent and terrifying figure at times, it is this nuance in his character that makes the circumstances of his death tragic.

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