[11] She was an alumna of John F. Kennedy High School in Silver Spring, Maryland,[12] although Krause's parents and younger sister moved to Churchill, Pennsylvania, in the summer of 1969.

Reportedly, Krause resolved to attend the university upon her graduation due to these day trips, informing her mother: "You know, Mom, I'd like to come to school here when I'm old enough.

She then enrolled at Kent State University (KSU), beginning her art and special education classes that September, while residing in a dormitory at Metcalf Hall.

[15] Both were also popular among their peers, who noted Krause occasionally carried a pet kitten she had named "Yo-Yo" and which she discreetly kept in her dormitory room around campus.

Several of these acts of protest had resulted in clashes with police and numerous arrests; this ongoing unrest had led to the Ohio Army National Guard presence at the university by the spring of 1970—to the resentment of much of the student population.

[15] On Friday, May 1, 1970, a further student protest was held upon campus in response to President Nixon's April 30 announcement of the Cambodian incursion and plans to increase conscription.

[24] The protestors also demanded the closure of the university's Reserve Officers' Training Corps (ROTC); this protest was attended by approximately 500 students and saw a symbolic burial of a copy of the United States Constitution.

[26][n 2] The weekend of May 2–3 saw further disruption upon and around the university campus, including beer glasses thrown at police cars, students forming a human chain on Walter Street, blocking traffic and asking drivers their opinion of the Vietnam War, and approximately $10,000 worth of damage inflicted with acts of vandalism, looting, and arson.

Reportedly, upon seeing a lone guardsman standing with a lilac sprouting from his gun, Krause tugged her boyfriend by the arm in a gesture for the two to engage in conversation with this particular soldier—according to some sources, he was a student at the University of Akron who explained his unit was unable to leave the campus.

[34] At 11:50 a.m., the first military jeep carrying members of the Ohio National Guard and a campus policeman arrived to confront the demonstrators.

[38] The guardsmen—in pursuit of the more troublesome protesters—then marched toward a sports field enclosed by a chain-link fence, where they remained for up to ten minutes, with some removing their gas masks to facilitate breathing.

[24] Although an estimated twenty to fifty demonstrators continued to shout obscenities and/or throw stones at the guardsmen at this point, between 100 and 200 students assembled in the Prentice Hall parking lot situated behind the guardsmen—demonstrators and onlookers alike, including Krause and Levine—had begun to proceed to their classes.

[46] Krause was shot seconds after the guardsmen opened fire from a distance of approximately 330 feet (101 m), while attempting to seek cover with her boyfriend behind a car in the Prentice Hall parking lot.

[38][50] Several uninjured students ran into nearby Dunbar, Prentice, and Taylor Halls to telephone for ambulances, which arrived minutes later, as others attempted to perform impromptu first aid.

[24][51] Although the guardsmen who opened fire claimed to have done so in self-defense, in response to a perceived threat from the students, an FBI investigation into the events concluded: "The shootings were not necessary and not in order.

Her rose granite headstone is inscribed with her name, in both English and Hebrew, and two inscriptions: "Beloved daughter and sister" and "Flowers are better than bullets"—the words she had exchanged with an officer of the Ohio Army National Guard the day prior to her murder.

Among those who spoke at Krause's funeral was a former high school teacher of hers, who concluded his eulogy by stating: "In her own quiet way, she symbolized the best in young people.

"[55] Although a grand jury subsequently indicted eight members of the Ohio Army National Guard in relation to their actions on May 4, 1970, U.S. District Judge Frank J. Battisti dismissed the charges against all eight individuals in November 1974, stating: "The government [has] not shown that the defendants had shot students with an intent to deprive them of specific civil rights."

[56] Krause's father, Arthur, became one of the most outspoken advocates for the truth surrounding the Kent State shootings to be revealed and justice for the wounded and bereaved.

He fought a legal battle for almost ten years following the murder of his daughter and both he and other families of the deceased and wounded ultimately filed a $20 million civil lawsuit against the National Guard.

[54] In 2010, Krause's younger sister, Laurel, co-founded the Kent State Truth Tribunal (KSTT) with documentary filmmaker Emily Kunstler.

[59] The tribunal was organized to uncover, record, and preserve the personal testimonies of witnesses, participants, and meaningfully involved individuals with regard to the Kent State shootings.