During a 2023 visit to the Florida State Capitol, Deidre Ruth commanded attention in a sleek black pantsuit and matching loafers, embodying the image of a conservative Christian mother on a mission to engage with lawmakers.
However, Ruth’s advocacy work hit an unexpected snag this week when the Daily Mail uncovered a shocking revelation from her past.
At 47, Ruth is a married mother of one residing in a $400,000 home in Hollywood, Florida. She presents herself online as the leader of a ‘family of faith’ and is involved with the Broward Concerned Citizens Uncensored Facebook group.
Ruth has made her voice heard at school board meetings, on television, and even traveled to Tallahassee in 2023 to advocate against face masks for children, progressive sex education, and LGBT books in schools, all from a religious perspective.
What Ruth has never disclosed, however, is an incident from her past involving a serious breach of the sixth commandment, “Thou shalt not kill.”
Locals in Hollywood are seemingly unaware that Ruth is a convicted murderess behind a crime so shocking it is still spoken of in her native Philadelphia 30 years on.
Ruth – then known as Deidre Frazer – knifed Catholic schoolgirl Christa Lewis to death at a carnival in the Philly suburb of Tacony in May 1996.
Christian conservative mom Deidre Ruth spoke to a TV reporter about her opposition to children having to wear masks at school in July 2021. Ruth is a notorious teenage murderess who has reinvented herself as a successful activist and campaigner
Deidre Ruth was previously known as Deidre Frazer. She is pictured in 1997 at her trial for murdering 16-year-old Christa Lewis at a Philadelphia carnival
Ruth and her victim were both 16 at the time of the murder, with Frazer’s age and sex making the killing a particularly shocking one.
She and her mother Dorothy Gravlin protested her innocence but jurors did not believe them and Ruth was convicted of third-degree murder in June 1997.
A chilling photo published by the Philadelphia Inquirer at the time showed a dead-eyed Ruth staring into the distance.
The teenage murderess was sentenced to up to 20 years in prison in November 1997 and was released some time before the end of her sentence.
Public records show that she married husband Steven Ruth in August 2010, with the couple now sharing a comfortable home with their 10-year-old son.
It is unclear what, if anything, Ruth does for work. A white Jeep Grand Cherokee she was seen driving on Wednesday has a disabled license plate.
She spent much of the day relaxing in her neighbor’s front yard while admiring a litter of puppies, before driving to a nearby Chili’s restaurant with her son.
Ruth has never publicly expressed any remorse for Lewis’s murder – and still refused to do so when confronted outside the Chili’s.
When approached by the Daily Mail about her previous conviction, the murderess gasped, fell silent and denied having any knowledge of the crime.
Deidre Ruth pictured at a Chili’s restaurant in Hollywood, Florida, on May 13. She was stunned when confronted about her past as a teenage murderess
Christa Lewis, pictured, was stabbed to death by Deidre Ruth – then known as Deidre Frazer – at a Philadelphia park in May 1996. Both girls were 16 at the time of the shocking crime
Deidre Ruth posed with former Florida State Senator Joe Gruthers during a trip to the Sunshine State’s Capitol in 2023 – but he likely had no idea she is a convicted murderess
‘I do not know what you’re talking about,’ she said, in a stutter, clearly taken aback at having been unmasked.
She refused to make eye contact and looked into the distance while trying to hide her visible shock.
Ruth asked how the Daily Mail had tracked her down – but said nothing when told her activism had made her a public figure for the second time in her life.
Offered the chance to comment on how she has seemingly turned her life around, Ruth answered: ‘I don’t know what you’re talking about.’
She then shooed her 10-year-old son into her luxurious SUV and drove off.
Ruth murdered Lewis, an honor student at Tacony’s St. Hubert Catholic High School for Girls, as her victim attended the fun fair with a group of friends.
Lewis and her friends were hanging out near the Twister ride when they caught the attention of Ruth and her friends.
The rival groups, who did not know each other, first exchanged dirty looks, hand gestures and nasty words.
Ruth now lives in a comfortable $400,000 home with her husband of 16 years Steven Ruth
Deidre Ruth is pictured next to her son at a public meeting in Fort Lauderdale in 2021. She was voicing her opinion to making children like her son wear face masks at school during the COVID pandemic
Ruth is pictured outside a Chili’s restaurant in Hollywood, Florida, on Wednesday. She was stunned to be confronted about her murderous past
The groups eventually separated, but found each other later that night. Lewis was flanked in a group of 11, while Ruth was one of three.
An argument broke out and the girls began throwing punches. Lewis was shoved into Ruth, who then plunged a knife into her heart.
Ruth was later tried as an adult, with prosecutors telling the court that she acted with malice when she killed Lewis.
Her attorneys argued that she acted in self-defense and branded the stabbing as a ‘tragic accident,’ the court heard.
When the killer testified in her trial, she admitted to stabbing Lewis, but claimed she had pulled out the knife to scare off the 16-year-old and the crowd.
She told the court that Lewis was accidentally pushed into the blade by her own friends.
A jury ultimately found her guilty of third-degree murder, meaning Ruth did not act with premeditation and specific intent to kill. Ruth cried out ‘I’ll die in jail!’ as the verdict was delivered.
Dorothy Gravlin shouted: ‘Oh, my baby! No, that’s my baby!’ as her daughter was convicted.
Deidre Ruth is pictured speaking out against LGBTQIA History Month in 2024. She makes frequent appearances at televised school board meetings and on TV news shows
Ruth’s mother Dorothy Gravlin, pictured Wednesday, has always protested her daughter’s innocence. She blamed her daughter’s murder conviction on the Philadelphia mafia
The concerned mother had actively campaigned on her daughter’s behalf throughout the trial.
Gravlin behaved even more aggressively when approached about Ruth’s past by the Daily Mail on Wednesday.
She continued to maintain that her daughter was innocent of murder and acted in self-defense, despite a jury deciding otherwise.
‘That was 30 years ago. Leave us alone. You need to drop this,’ Gravlin snapped when approached at her Florida home, which is a 15 minute drive away from Ruth’s.
‘It is in the past. She was attacked. It was self defense. She was only convicted because it was Philly. If this was Florida, she wouldn’t have been guilty.’
Pressed on her suggestion that the conviction was unfair, Gravlin said: ‘If you know anything about this story, you know that the Philadelphia mafia was involved.’
‘Everything my daughter does is to help kids, not hurt them,’ she added. ‘I am thinking about her safety. You’re putting her at risk and my 10-year-old grandson at risk.’
A park was named in Christa Lewis’s honor shortly after her death, with this mural in her honor first unveiled in 1996. It was resorted in 2024 (seen after restoration)
Told that Ruth’s conviction was a matter of public record and that her daughter had chosen to once again make herself a public figure, Gravlin cursed and threatened to sue for ‘harassment.’
It is unclear if the Daily Mail’s revelations about Ruth’s past will impact her campaigning work.
In 2021, she appeared before a Broward County School Board meeting and brought then seven-year-old son to the public lectern with her, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported.
Ruth proudly spoke to a WSVN reporter about her efforts outside after the hearing.
There, Ruth spoke passionately about why she believed it was time to end compulsory face mask rules for her son and other children implemented during Covid.
Showing a flash of her temper, Ruth yelled: ‘You’re disgusting’ as she was escorted out of the meeting room after being asked about why she had taken her son out of school.
In 2023, she appeared in a WSVN news clip of a Broward County school board meeting opposing a proposed new sex education curriculum.
The same year, she appeared before a separate meeting opposing the inclusion of LGBT books in schools, with footage of Ruth at the podium screened on NBC Miami.
She told the meeting it was ‘disappointing to see such things pushed that are against our religious standings.’
Back in Philadelphia, a playground has been named in Christa Lewis’s honor, with a scholarship set up in her memory.
It is unclear if Ruth or her family have ever visited.
But given their continued refusal to accept any responsibility for Lewis’s death – it is highly unlikely that they would ever be welcomed there.
