David Koresh was born Vernon Wayne Howell (August 17, 1959 – April 19, 1993). He was the self-proclaimed head of the Branch Davidians from 1988 until a 1993 raid by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms and subsequent siege by the Federal Bureau of Investigation ended with the burning of Branch Davidian ranch, the Mount Carmel Center.
David Koresh was born in Houston, Texas to a 15-year-old single mother. He never knew his father and was raised by his grandparents. Koresh described his early childhood as lonely, saying that the other kids teased him and called him "Vernie". As a young boy, he was abused by his stepfather. A poor student because of dyslexia, Koresh dropped out of high school.