RIP Evelynn Grace Smith ~ Stop Domestic Violence

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Fernando Trejo-Ramirez, 19, and his interpreter, Marta Reyes, attend court Wednesday. He is suspected of killing a 20-year-old woman Tuesday at the Select Inn downtown. Thomas Clouse Staff writer February 24, 2005 Stabbed to death in a motel bathtub, 20-year-old Evelynn Grace Smith was then moved to the queen-sized bed in Room 118 at the Select Inn. Her killer folded her arms across her body and placed a Spanish-language Bible on her chest before covering her with a blanket, investigators said in court documents filed Wednesday. Fernando Trejo-Ramirez, 19, has been charged with second-degree murder in connection with the Tuesday stabbing. District Court Judge Sara Derr ordered Trejo-Ramirez held on a $1 million bond during his first court hearing Wednesday. Spokane police Sgt. Joe Peterson said Trejo-Ramirez told police Tuesday morning that Smith, who graduated in 2003 from Lewis and Clark High School, was his girlfriend. "Was this a stalking incident where he just arrived here and was seeking her out? That was one of our first concerns," Deputy Chief Al Odenthal said. "But she apparently met him at the bus station willingly." Smith and at least one other person, whom police would not identify, were in the car with Smith when she picked Trejo-Ramirez up at the bus station. The car then dropped off the young couple, who first met in North Carolina, at the motel at 1420 W. Second Ave. Motel manager Mary Harrington said Tuesday that Smith seemed happy to be reunited with Trejo-Ramirez when she signed in and paid for the room at 11:30 a.m. Monday. Police don't know what happened until Trejo-Ramirez called 911 at 1:52 a.m. Tuesday saying he was having trouble breathing and had lost a lot of blood, Detective Don Giese wrote in his report. Spokane Fire Department paramedics responded to the Select Inn and found Trejo-Ramirez wandering around the motel parking lot. "He told medics that he had attempted suicide and had fresh incision wounds to each arm as well as the right side of his neck," Giese wrote. Some minutes later, he was transported to Deaconess Medical Center "where he disclosed that the victim was dead in Room 118 of the Select Inn." Officers responded there and found Smith dead. She was lying on her back on the queen-sized bed and was covered by a blanket, Giese said in court records. "The blanket was pulled down and revealed that the victim was unclothed with her arms crossed over her chest and a Spanish version Bible on her chest," Giese wrote. Smith had deep cuts on the inside of both arms and her neck. Officers secured the room and backed out to wait for the search warrant that was signed about 7 a.m. Tuesday. Detectives then searched the room for clues. "It appeared that the victim's wounds were inflicted while she was in the bathtub," Giese wrote. "She was moved from the bathtub to the bed and placed in the position in which she was found by officers." After his arrest, Trejo-Ramirez initially talked with police. He told officers that he was an illegal immigrant from Mexico, but his status remains unclear, Odenthal said. "The defendant told SPD officers that he and the victim decided to commit suicide together and that each one caused their own injuries," Giese wrote. However, Dr. Marco Ross, of the Spokane County Medical Examiner's Office, told Giese that Smith's wounds did not appear to be self-inflicted. "Dr. Ross indicated that the wound to the neck was fatal," Giese wrote in his report. "Dr. Ross also indicated that it would have been highly unlikely for the victim to cause these injuries to herself." After Trejo-Ramirez received stitches for his cuts, police transported him to the Public Safety Building for questioning. However, he refused to answer any more questions, Peterson said. Giese later reached Trejo-Ramirez's family in North Carolina, according to his report. "Follow-up investigation revealed that the defendant called family members after the victim was dead and told them that he'd killed her after an argument," Giese wrote. Police have not found the weapon, believed to be a knife, used to kill Smith and injure Trejo-Ramirez, Deputy Chief Odenthal said. Smith had returned to Spokane after living for some months in North Carolina. Odenthal said he didn't know how she met Trejo-Ramirez or what kind of relationship they had. Investigators learned about some sort of domestic violence report between Smith and Trejo-Ramirez in North Carolina but hadn't obtained any details. It's not even clear if a report was filed, Odenthal said. "Where they have been and what transpired will take more time to figure out," Odenthal said. A man who said he was Smith's grandfather e-mailed The Spokesman-Review on Wednesday and wrote that Smith was born in Galveston, Texas, graduated from high school in Spokane and then moved to Hickory, N.C. "Evelynn was a very sweet and lovely girl," Alexander L. Smith wrote in the e-mail. He said he and his wife had never met the suspect "and know nothing about this man. We believe she had left this man in Hickory and was looking forward to attending college. He apparently followed her to Spokane where she was murdered."

Man pleads guilty to 20-year-old's murder From Staff Reports July 6, 2006 A man accused of stabbing a 20-year-old Spokane woman in a hotel bathroom pleaded guilty to first-degree murder Wednesday. Fernando Trejo-Ramirez, 20, is charged with the premeditated killing of Evelynn Grace Smith on Feb. 21 in a room at the Select Inn, 1420 W. Second Ave. He will be sentenced July 20 in Spokane County Superior Court. The plea agreement recommends a 25-year sentence, deputy prosecutor Rachel Sterett said. Trejo-Ramirez, who also pleaded guilty to a two-year weapons enhancement for the use of a knife, could be sentenced to as much as 28 years. Defense attorney Bevan Maxey said it was an "extremely sad" day for both Smith's and Trejo-Ramirez's families. "He's a young man with no prior criminal history who will be spending a lion's share of his younger life in prison," Maxey said. Sterett declined to comment until after sentencing. Trejo-Ramirez told police that Smith, a 2003 Lewis and Clark High School graduate whom he met in North Carolina, was his girlfriend, police have told The Spokesman-Review. He called 911 early on the morning of Feb. 21, saying he was having trouble breathing and had lost a lot of blood, according to police. When Spokane Fire Department paramedics responded, he told them that he had attempted suicide and had fresh cuts on to his arms and neck. He later disclosed that Smith was dead in Room 118.

Evelynn Grace Smith

July 13, 1984 – February 21, 2005
One of my dearest friends lost her lovely 20 year old daughter four years ago to a young man 19 years old who didn’t know how to cope with his emotions. Being that he was overly jealous, compulsive, and controlling, were there warning signs? Yes, many signs but we never want to think someone who loves us would really hurt us. Yet it happens everyday. Evelynn was a young lady with so much life and energy. She had big dreams of starting college. She was very health conscious and she loved to run. At one point in their relationship she drew up a contract and had him sign it just so she would be allowed to run, alone with other provisions. He wanted to keep her isolated and he didn’t want her to be around any of her friends. Her life ended tragically with knife wounds to her throat and cuts on the inside of her arms. But comfort has been given to those who loved Evelynn knowing she is in the hands of the Lord. Her life ended here but we know her life isn’t over. It is just the beginning of a greater life. See Evelynn died at a time when she had grown closer to the Lord than ever before. She was so excited about her relationship with the Lord and she desired to be with him, encouraging her mother to go to church with her which is exactly what they did. Evelynn was a smart young lady and she kept a journal, diary and several day planners. Inside her journal her mother learned much about what was going on in this relationship. This young man tried to make it look like they were going to commit suicide together because he put wounds on himself and told the detectives he was unsuccessful. However, there was much evidence to show otherwise. Her journal that she had been keeping for several years revealed how she had stayed in a shelter to get away from his abuse. She had pictures he had drawn that were quite scary. She met the young man in North Carolina but ended up leaving him and moving back to Washington. They continued talking on the phone and he convinced her things would be different. So she was planning to take him back. He caught a bus to Washington and she picked him up at the bus station. Then she took him to get a room at a motel. He was wearing a rosary around his neck at the time...After arriving at the motel a few hours later he took her life. He killed her in the bath tub and placed her nude body on the bed with her arms crossed. He laid a Spanish language Bible on top of her and then covered her with a blanket…Was this premeditated? I would say so… This young man was very insecure and this is a tragedy but as Christians we must forgive and this young man needs prayer along everyone else who was hurt in this situation. He took Eveylnn’s life but he hurt so many more, not only Evelynn’s family and friends but his own family…The Bible teaches we must forgive and love our enemies. Pray for them… Evelynn has an awesome mom. She is a wonderful person and a great friend. It took great courage for her to go and talk to the young man who took her daughter. When she spoke to him she tried to comfort him so she could learn what happened. My friend is very caring and forgiving. I met Kathy in a most unusual way. I placed an add in the newspaper for a vegetarian nanny and she answered it not because she was interested in the job but because she wanted to meet me. After we met we became the best of friends. That was 20 years ago. Evelynn and my daughter played together and they celebrated their birthday’s together (because their birthdays were two weeks apart). Evelynn was one year older than Dori but they got along really well… I remember every time Evelynn came over she never wanted to leave. She would always want to stay and keep playing….Kathy I love you, we will see Evelynn again and she lives in our hearts…..Love, Francine

Eulogy By Evelynn's Mother, Kathy Smith

To memorialize my daughter, Evelynn Grace, I would like to share details about the last days of her life. In addition, I would like to share some of what I realized following her death.

 

Those who knew Evelynn well know that she was vibrant, full of life and strong-willed. She had a terrific sense of humor and an adventurous spirit. It was her adventurous spirit that led to her desire to travel, to learn about other cultures, languages, and traditions.

 

As her mother, I always worried about her experiences and adventures. However, in the last few years of her life I became very proud of her. She finished her senior year at Lewis and Clark High School with A’s and B’s. She became an avid lover of fitness; she went running several times a week, played basketball and lifted weights. She was very diet conscious and health conscious.

 

But my greatest joy in her was her return to the church. The Sunday before Ash Wednesday, she asked me if we could attend church together. We also attended Ash Wednesday mass and fasted together. In fact, the day before her death she attended church with me and renewed her vows to God. She confided to me that one of her fondest childhood memories was that of attending church potlucks. She also said she really enjoyed the time she spent with her Sunday school teachers.

 

Her death came as a shock to me. Though I always knew her adventures and experiences in life were at times risky, I never expected my strong-willed daughter to perish so quickly, so tragically, and at so young an age.

 

I thought of Lady Diana’s and JFK Jr's experiences. I thought about the deaths of our young service men and women. I also thought of the tsunami victims. A writer named Charles Krauthammer wrote a January article for Time Magazine about the tsunami victims. He used these majestic words to describe the tsunami. “Comes the tsunami and we realize to our terror that Nature merely has to shrug, to flick a finger, as it were, and hundreds of thousands of us are broken, entire nations thrown into chaos and grief. It is the ultimate reminder of our common fragility, of just how precarious our species’ ridiculously brief sojourn on this earth really is.”

 

Like the tsunami victims, Lady Diana, and JFK Jr., Evelynn’s life perished abruptly and unexpectedly. Even more tragically, Evelynn perished at the hands of one who professed to love her.

 

This horrific reality led me to ponder the words of a Catholic prayer we frequently say at mass. It begins by saying “I confess to the almighty God and to you my brothers and sisters, that I have sinned in my thoughts and in my words, in what I have done and what I have failed to do.”

 

A young man did something very terrible to my daughter. As her mother, I, and others, ask ourselves what we could have done to prevent this, and what we possibly failed to do. As her mother, this question will no doubt haunt me the rest of my life.

However, I can tell you I do take great consolation in the fact that Evelynn did renew her vows to God and the church. The angel of God took Evelynn away at a time when her heart was most pure. Though she died tragically at the hands of the one who professed to love her, so, too, did Jesus Christ perish at the hands of people who professed to love him, and apostles who failed to prevent his crucifixion. I take consolation in my faith that Evelynn is now in a better place where she is far removed from the cares, toils, and imperfections of this earth.

 

While it saddens me that there were so many ambitions, joys, and experiences that Evelynn will not live to realize. I take some consolation that she is not burdened by a perpetual pursuit of the treasures here on earth. As Matthew 6:19 states, “Do not lay up for yourself treasures upon the earth where the moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But lay up for yourself treasures in heaven where neither moth or rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal. For where your treasure is, there, too your heart will be also.”  

 

Much of what I realized following Evelynn’s death came to me in the early morning hours several days ago while I was asleep. I awoke from my sleep and wrote my thoughts down on a scratch sheet of paper in one of Evelynn’s day planners. When I later began to organize my thoughts in writing to memorialize Evelynn, I realized that the back of the scratch sheet of paper contained a picture that Evelynn had drawn. The picture was of a flower, with a girl’s face on the inside. Evelynn had told me a number of times in her adolescence that she felt like a flower growing up. I will always think of her as my lovely wild flower that God granted me a brief sojourn on this earth with.