Loss of friends

Teens mourn pair's shooting deaths

By CATHY LOGG and KATE REARDON Herald Writers

EVERETT -- Jesse Stoner wore a diamond nose ring, loved rap music and smoked Habana Gold brand cigars.

He would have turned 19 on Monday.

Stoner and 18-year-old Jason Thompson, both of Everett, were shot and killed Tuesday night when gunshots were fired into the back seat of the car in which they were riding south of Everett.

The car was leaving a house shortly after 8 p.m. in the 2100 block of 106th Street SW after a fight. Three others in the car were not hurt.

The Snohomish County Medical Examiner's Office did not confirm the victims' names, pending positive identification, but said both died from multiple gunshot wounds to the head and torso.

The Snohomish County Sheriff's Office refused to release any new information on the investigation Wednesday. Investigators had not identified a motive or a suspect, sheriff's spokeswoman Jan Jorgensen said.

School counselors were available to students at Kamiak, Mariner and ACES Alternative high schools on Wednesday, school district spokesman Andy Muntz said.

Friends of the two slain teens gathered Wednesday at a makeshift memorial in the Cost Cutter Foods parking lot, at Everett Mall Way and Highway 99, where the driver stopped to call for help after the shooting. Lighted candles nestled among roses, carnations, rhododendrons, a hand-lettered T-shirt, cards, photographs, a balloon, a poem and other tributes to the pair.

Teens were there Wednesday night for a vigil.

Toni Rosen, one of the victims' friends, said some students planned to ask Mariner High officials to retire the number 72, which Thompson wore on his football jersey.

She talked about how hard it was to watch others grieving at the memorial.

"These big macho football players, to see them break down in tears ..." said Rosen, who was unable to finish speaking.

Stoner, who quit school at Mariner High in March, was pursuing a General Educational Development certificate, friends said. He had been a student in the Mukilteo School District since 1988.

Thompson previously attended Mariner and was a senior at ACES.

Friend Adrienne Thurston said she talked to Stoner at about 7:30 the night he was killed. They had made plans to meet up later, but when she called his cell phone no one answered.

She described Stoner as fun-loving.

"He was really outgoing," Thurston said. "He always was, like, the life of the party."

Another friend, Reyna Banfill, used to date Stoner and described him as "the class clown."

"He was always out to do good," she said. "His main goal was to make someone laugh."

Stoner worked in the Everett warehouse of Interstate Batteries of Seattle, but had been off work for a bit after he dropped a glass jar on his foot outside of work and severed a tendon, said Kirk White, warehouse manager.

Stoner stopped in Tuesday to say he'd be back to work soon, White said.

"He was a good kid, a real likable guy," he said.

Thompson also worked at Interstate Batteries for several months before quitting about two weeks ago, White said, adding that Thompson was outgoing at work.

"He was always kidding with route managers and clowning around a bit," he said.

White said the deaths are hard to believe.

"It's just too close to home when it happens to your employees," White said. "All day long I'm thinking, 'What a waste.' Just as these kids are getting started in the world -- it makes no sense."

The shooting occurred at the home of a Mariner High student. Sheriff's investigators cordoned off about a block of 106th Street with yellow tape and spent much of Wednesday searching the house and grounds for evidence. Neighbors watched from yards and sidewalks.

Tracy Graves, who lives a few houses away, heard the gunshots Tuesday night and called 911, she said.

She watched a red Honda Civic skid to a stop and two men get in before the car "spun around and took off," Graves said.

Her 5-year-old son became frightened when she told him to put his head down and not get up, she said.

Neighbors said the house where the shooting occurred always had lots of visitors, including teens.

"I knew it was going to end in tragedy someday," neighbor Alan Jesmer said.

The student's family could not be reached for comment.

Jenn Houghton said she remembers fun times with Stoner and Thompson last summer at the drive-in movies.

Once they'd get to the drive-in, they'd rig it so the sound for the movie played through big car stereo speakers and everyone would sit out on lawn chairs, Houghton said.

"They were entertaining," she said of the pair.

Thompson, who always wore his hat sideways or backwards, was a big teddy bear, Houghton said.

She said she'll miss their smiles most.

There are a lot of upset kids right now, Houghton said, adding that it seems each year kids she knows die in vehicle or other accidents.

This is the first time friends have died from gunshots, she said.

"We shouldn't have to worry about which one of our friends is going to die next," she said. "I'm going to tell my parents I love them every time I leave the house."