• Publication: The Red and Black (University of Georgia student newspaper) — Weekend
• Author: Noah Pittard and Kelly Daniel, Staff Writers
• Original Publication Date: Friday, April 23, 1993

One year later, the tears still come easily.

“Sometimes it’s hard to believe, like a nightmare,” said Joan Stone, as she speaks about April 23, 1992 — when her 22-year-old daughter, Jennifer, was found raped and strangled in her off-campus apartment.

Her husband, Raymond, agreed that the passing of days has done little to heal their wounds.

“It doesn’t get any easier with time,” he said. “People say it does, but it doesn’t.”

One year ago, on a Thursday evening, their daughter’s partially-clad body was found in her Hull Street apartment by three friends who became concerned when Jenny failed to show up for a meeting. Hours after the body was discovered, the death was ruled a homicide. Two days later, it was confirmed that the University senior had been raped.

For the last year, and especially the last few weeks, the slain student’s parents say the process of coming to grips with their daughter’s death has been a difficult one. This past Easter marked the one-year anniversary of the last time the Stones saw their daughter.

Today will perhaps be tougher.

“We’re just going to try to make it through the day,” Mr. Stone said. “We’re going through the whole thing again now.”

The Stone family is attending a special Mass for Jenny today at St. Benedict’s Catholic Church in Roswell. Some members of Kappa Delta, Jenny’s sorority, will also attend, Mrs. Stone said. A second memorial Mass is scheduled for Sunday, April 25.

“We’re very common, private people — close family, highly religious — not fanatical, but we believe in God and doing the right thing,” said Mr. Stone. “We’ve had one hell of a time dealing with this.”

Mr. Stone said one of his four other daughters sought counseling to help her deal with her grief. The one-year anniversary recently led a second sister to pen “a eulogy never spoken” for Jenny. Many of Jenny’s friends still keep in regular touch with the family, the Stones said.

Although neither parent could say whether the arrest and conviction of a suspect would speed the healing process, the couple agreed the lack of concrete answers surrounding the roller-coaster case has been disturbing.

“You speculate. You have all these scenarios. You just go absolutely crazy,” said Mrs. Stone. “We figure the next (arrest) is the same as the first.”

In twelve months, Athens police said they have eliminated 12 “solid suspects,” currently have four promising leads and are waiting for DNA test results on two others. In all, police have eliminated almost 100 possible suspects, 43 of whom were discounted through DNA testing.

Mr. Stone, who leaves all dealings with police up to Tom Deal, his son-in-law in Indiana, said he is equally disappointed with the investigation’s lack of forward motion, but feels Athens police are doing all they can.

“As far as ourselves and the investigation, we obviously are very disappointed that no one’s been charged,” he said. “This is not to say that they (the police) haven’t worked. I think they have.”

Although the family has been in close contact with Athens police, Mrs. Stone said there are times she feels as in the dark as the public.

“We haven’t been privy to any seems as if it just happened yesterday because there’s a lot of questions we have that haven’t been answered.”

Police have also found themselves handcuffed by a lack of information as many of their strongest leads have hinged on the conflicting statements of suspended University employee Earnest Brown, one of three men connected to cameras stolen from Stone’s apartment.

“Yes, we’d like to see the person apprehended,” Mr. Stone said. “We know that it won’t change the situation with Jennifer. She’s lost to us on a day-to-day basis.

“There can’t be a reason for what happened, but somebody must have had a purpose in mind — whether it was robbery or whatever.”

According to one of the investigators, police are equally unsure about why Jenny was raped and killed. Police said they have considered several theories, including the possibility the killer may have stalked Stone. A second scenario police have conceived is that the killer was in the process of robbing the apartment when he realized Stone was home.

Police say there was no sign of forced entry into the apartment.

Stone moved into her downtown apartment in fall of 1991, after coming back late from a summer abroad in England. According to her mother, Jenny had been frantic about finding a place to live in the few days left before school started. After checking with friends about the possibility of an extra room and having no luck, she and her two cats, Atticus and Ebenezer, moved into the single bedroom brick apartment at 187 Hull St., Mrs. Stone said.

Despite these last-minute arrangements, neither of Jenny’s parents said they worried much about their daughter’s new home. After spending her summers alone in Italy and England, Jennifer was not one to be inhibited by fear — especially in a city as comparatively safe as Athens, Mrs. Stone said.

Besides, she added, the apartment had come highly recommended by the parents of a University student who had lived alone there for five years before Jenny moved in.

“We checked it out before Jenny rented it and we really didn’t think it was an unsafe place,” said Mrs. Stone. “It could’ve happened anywhere.

“She was always cautious,” she said. “But face it, if you’re a really fearful person, you’re never going to accomplish anything. You just can’t live like that. And she wasn’t going to, ever.”

Besides, Mrs. Stone said, as a smile crossed her face, Jenny was thrilled to have found a place to park downtown.

Throughout their ordeal, the Stones said support from the University community has been “outstanding.” The couple said they have been particularly happy with the recent establishment of a memorial scholarship and were especially grateful when Jenny, only a few credit hours short of graduating, was posthumously awarded her degree in advertising.

“We know about Georgia football and we know about all those things that go with the University’s academics,” said Mr. Stone. “But by the actions of the faculty and staff, we also found out that the University of Georgia has a heart and a soul.”

One year later, stories about Jenny’s heart and soul dominate her parents’ conversation. Photos of and by the young woman decorate the living room while her two cats lay curled up asleep at her mother’s feet.

“You have to understand, we’re not very strong,” Mr. Stone said, his voice cracking. “The strength we have is a pride in Jennifer and her accomplishments.

“We were fortunate to have her for 22 years, (but) it will always be painful.”

[Pull quote] “The strength we have is a pride in Jennifer and her accomplishments.” — Raymond Stone, Jenny Stone’s father

[Photo caption] Stone’s parents’ favorite picture of their daughter.

[Photo caption] Police have eliminated 12 solid suspects and currently have four leads in the death of Jenny Stone. (File)