The first week of May 2000, Jesse dropped a glass tea jar on his foot and severed a tendon, that required surgery. So once again, he was laid up at home. We figured later, that God gave us this time with Jesse, as He knew He was going to be calling our son home to Him, soon. On the 16th of May, our neighbor, Marshall, died of a heart attack. Jesse sat down that morning and wrote a poem for his family. It is titled, "Not To Worry." It was read at Marshall's memorial service. It is a beautiful poem and has since been published. He had finally gotten a walking cast put on the week of May 22. It was wonderful, because he had plans with his friends to go camping at Moses Lake that weekend, for Memorial day. They came back on Sunday and he said it was terrible. The weather was so hot and he was miserable. He had gotten sand down in his cast. That night, they rented a room at a local motel and partied. Jesse had come home Monday afternoon, long enough to shower, and then they were off again.
The morning of May 30, I went in and woke him up. I told him that I was going to a friends house for awhile and that I had let his dog out already. I told him that I loved him and that I would see him later. That is the way it has always been in our house. When you leave, you always say I love you, because you just never know what might happen. I called his cell phone around 11 a.m. to see what he was up to. Our home phone had been disconnected, so we used his cell to make and receive calls. He had used up all of his minutes, but was still able to receive calls once in a while. He told me he was at Jason's and that his Dad had come home from work, not feeling well. We told each other that we loved each other, then his phone went dead. I got home around 2 p.m. and asked Ken if he had heard from Jesse. He said he had seen him when he came home from work. Jesse was there just long enough to give his Dad a hug and tell him he loved him, and then he was out the door.
Ken and I did some yard work and then watched a movie. Ken was in the bedroom, doing his prayers, when there was a knock at the door. This was roughly around 8 p.m. It was Adrian's Aunt Michele. She said that Adrian had called her and told her to come get us and bring us to Cost Cutter's parking lot. I asked her what for, and she grabbed me by the shoulders and said, "Honey, Jesse's been shot!" I yelled for Ken and told him what she said. He ran in and put his shoes on, cursing all the way. All the way there, we all prayed that Jesse would be okay. It seemed to take forever to get there. At the last signal light, we looked over at the parking lot. There were no aid cars or flashing lights, so we figured it must have been a mistake, or not that serious.
As we pulled into the parking lot, I saw a huge crowd of people. Michele stopped the car and we all jumped out. That was when we saw the car. It was draped in a yellow tarp. I knew then, that is was serious. We started towards the car and Josh stepped in front of us. I looked up at him and asked him if Jesse was alright. He had this look on his face and in his eyes, that I will carry with me forever. All he could do is shake his head "No" and hold me. Everything was spinning by then. We tried to get to the car but the officers wouldn't let us near. Tiffany, Jason's girlfriend, was sitting in a police car, screaming hysterically. We were soon to learn, that both Jesse and Jason were sitting in that car with the tarp over it, and they were both dead. Tiffany had been sitting between them, when they were killed. Behind us was another police car, with Chris G. in it. It was his car that Jesse and Jason were in. Right next to us on the pavement, was a baseball cap and windbreaker. They were soaked in blood. They were what Tiffany had been wearing. We called our friends, Dee and Max. Then I asked if Jason's parents had been notified. Josh and Chad said that they hadn't been able to reach them. I was able to get through, and Mary answered the phone. I told her that she and Sonny had to get up to Cost Cutter's, and that the boys had been shot. Shortly there after, Dee and Max pulled in. Dee said that as soon as we made eye contact, she heard a blood curdling scream rise out of me. I don't remember that. I remember her and I rushing to each other, her saying it would be okay and me saying no it wouldn't, and that he was gone. We held each other, sobbing uncontrollably. Chris was finally let out of the squad car and came up to Ken and I. He has crying so hard. As he approached us, all he could say was, "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." We hugged him and told him it wasn't his fault and that we were glad that he hadn't been hurt. We asked him were Adrian was, and he said some officers had taken him to show them where the shooting had occured. We asked him what had happened, and he said that they had been on their way to the Go-Kart track, when someone had called Adrian's cell phone. (Jesse, Adrian and Chris all had cell phones, but no minutes left on them to make outgoing calls. As I stated earlier, they were able to receive call occasionally.) This person, Martell, said that he was going to be in a fist fight, and wanted to know if they wanted to come watch. They said,"Sure, why not." They all met up at the beach in Mukilteo, but Martell's opponent, Dennis Cramm, didn't show up. They all decided to go to Dennis' house. Chris followed everyone because no one in his car knew who Dennis was, let alone where he lived.
When they arrived at the Cramm house, Chris said there were alot of people already there. Including Dennis' Dad, Dale and several of his friends. Martell and Dennis started fighting. When it was almost over, Dennis had Martell pinned down on the ground, when Dale started punching on Martell. Adrian pulled Dale off of Martell and told him this was to be a fair fight. Then the fight was over. As Dennis was walking back towards the house, and Martell was walking towards the street, Chris and Adrian saw, Jesse Sorrenson run up behind one of Dale's friends, and pull a hand gun out of his waistband in the back of his pants. Then he went running out towards the street, shooting into the air. The person he had gotten the gun from, John Jaurequi, pulled another one out and started shooting, too. |
