Aftermath Medical Lake Community Begins Healing In Wake Of Girl’S Death In/Around: Medical Lake

In the weeks after a horrific killing in their small town, Medical Lake community leaders are looking for ways to heal.

In an apparent murder-suicide attempt Sept. 26, Sharon Curry stabbed her daughter, 8-year-old Jessica Lynne, to death, then stabbed herself, Spokane County sheriff’s deputies said. She survived the self-inflicted injuries, however, and confessed last week, deputies said.

“The community is rallying to try to honor the memory of Jessica,” said associate pastor Russ Tappero of Lake City Assembly of God.

His church held a funeral for Jessica on Saturday at the request of family members, who live in the Seattle area but wanted to allow the community a sense of closure, Tappero said.

About 150 people, including family and friends, attended the closed-casket service.

“It was a good time for the community to share their experiences with Jessica and to say good-bye,” he said.

At Medical Lake Elementary, where Jessica was in the third grade, classmates expressed their feelings and memories in stories and pictures.

“I think it really did help the kids to say goodbye,” Tappero said.

Principal Daniel Mueller said Jessica was well known and well liked by students and staff.

Two weeks after her death, students seem to be over the shock of the news, Mueller said, and are moving on.

The school has worked to help children, parents and staff deal with their loss by providing counselors and hosting group discussions to talk about the tragedy. The school also sent parents a letter that had tips on how to talk with children about the death.

From the day the news broke, teachers and staff were candid with students about what happened, Mueller said.

“If children asked what happened, we explained it to them,” Mueller said.

Jessica’s teacher, Shirley Waiter, read a newspaper article about the killing to her class.

Mueller said he felt it was important to give children the facts but not impose personal views on death and dying, which would intrude on the parental role.

Elsewhere in the community, people sought closure in different ways.

The staff at Denny’s, the local grocery store where Curry worked on occasion, started collection jars for the family. Hundreds of dollars have been donated, said manager Tina Wilson.

She stresses that the money was for the family and not for Curry’s legal expenses. Also, a trust fund has been started at Sterling Savings Bank, which is accepting donations at any of its Spokane-area branch offices.

In front of Jessica and Curry’s white house, people dropped off teddy bears and flowers, and they lighted candles. Two feet away in the concrete is a bloody stain where Curry collapsed, mumbling that her dog was dead, a neighbor thought at first, only to realize later she was trying to say her daughter was dead.

Hundreds of people have driven along the normally quiet street.

Curry’s backyard neighbor, Terry Ruoshton, said she didn’t know Curry that well, but she saw Jessica often, riding her bike and playing in the back.

She said Jessica seemed happy. Now, she’s reminded of the tragic events every day as looks out at the purple bike Jessica rode that still sits in the back yard, behind yellow police tape.

“I don’t know what kind of problems she had,” Ruoshton said of Curry. “I just wish she had talked to someone.”