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The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Hundreds attend slain teacher’s memorial

Associated Press

TACOMA – More than 1,500 people attended a public memorial service Tuesday for slain teacher Jennifer Paulson at the Life Center Church in Tacoma.

Friends and fellow teachers also joined in a candlelight vigil for her Monday night at Birney Elementary School. The 30-year-old was shot Friday at the school by an alleged stalker who later died in a shootout with a deputy.

Police have said the killer was Jed R. Waits, 30, of Ellensburg, who met Paulson when they were both undergraduates at Seattle Pacific University.

They never dated, but Waits continued to pursue her years after they had worked together at a cafeteria.

Paulson obtained an anti-harassment order against the man in 2008. Relatives say she knew she was in danger last week when Waits was released from the Pierce County Jail, three days after she had him arrested.

Still, her mother offered a message at Tuesday’s service to Waits’ family.

“You couldn’t have stopped your son any more than we could have saved Jennifer,” said Nancy Heisler.

Heisler said the last time she saw her daughter, “she asked us to pray for the man who was stalking her.”

Classes resume today at the school where Paulson was a special education teacher.