- Publication: Gwinnett Daily News (“Daily News,” Metro Edition)
- Author: Cathy Tyler, Daily News staff writer
- Original Publication Date: Saturday, April 25, 1992
ATHENS — Jennifer Stone had planned to listen to country music while relaxing with friends on their porch Friday. But she never got a chance.
The 22-year-old University of Georgia advertising student from Roswell was killed sometime between late Wednesday evening and early Thursday morning. About 7 p.m. Thursday, several classmates discovered her body in her one-bedroom apartment in downtown Athens.
They went to the tiny residence that sits tucked away behind Kennon’s Men’s Formal Wear on Clayton Street after Ms. Stone failed to show up for a meeting.
Alexis Heckman, a senior from Lymon, S.C., and a close friend for more than a year, identified the body for police. She had spoken with Ms. Stone at 11 p.m. Wednesday.
Officials with the Athens-Clarke County Police Department, which is handling the investigation, said the cause of death has not been determined, but speculated that she had been strangled. They declined to say if she had been sexually assaulted.
“We’d always say ‘Jenny, be careful.’ But she always felt very secure there,” Ms. Heckman said. “She’d say ‘No one knows this house is back here.’ ”
Ms. Heckman studied advertising with Ms. Stone.
Both students had plans to graduate this year and were planning to become roommates after leaving school. Ms. Stone was living alone because another student backed out of a roommate arrangement last fall.
Ms. Stone would have graduated on June 13.
“We planned to listen to country music today. That’s something we’ve never done,” Ms. Heckman said Friday.
Kim Smith, also a close friend of Ms. Stone, said she cannot believe what has happened.
Ms. Smith and Ms. Heckman went to New Orleans with Ms. Stone and six other friends last month during spring break. They spent time with Ms. Stone’s sister, who lives in Louisiana.
“It’s seems completely ludicrous. I can’t imagine what the motive would have been. Jenny was so positive,” said Ms. Smith, a senior from Bremen.
Chief Joseph Lumpkin of the Athens Police Department would not comment on a motive for the slaying.
One police officer said Ms. Stone’s parents heard that a slaying had occurred while listening to a news broadcast. “They called to check on her and a police officer answered her phone,” the officer said.
One of Stone’s professors spent 30 minutes with her Wednesday around noon.
“She wanted to talk about her future. She wanted to be a copywriter,” said Lee Wenthe, a UGA advertising professor.
Ms. Wenthe accompanied Ms. Stone and several other students on a field trip to New York in January.
“She was able to get a first-hand look at the real world of advertising. She was extremely creative and had such a bright future,” Ms. Wenthe said.
“She was so excited. . .she had just learned that she had gotten an internship with an Atlanta advertising agency,” Ms. Wenthe said.
Howard Clark of Bockle, Clark and Gill Advertising Agency in Buckhead said he was stunned when he learned the victim was Ms. Stone.
“I heard it on the news, but didn’t know until later it was Ms. Stone, until a family friend called us,” Clark said. “We are stunned and very disheartened,” he said.
“Jennifer was very bright, and had a likable personality. She had been pleasantly persistent about the internship, and when we made the decision we felt we had chosen the best,” Clark said.
Joyce Burton, a UGA department secretary, said she had joked with Ms. Stone on Wednesday.
“She came and said ‘Ms. Burton you won’t have to put up with me anymore, I’m graduating,’ ” Ms. Burton said between tears. “I had no idea I’d never see her again.”
Ms. Burton said Ms. Stone was in the Honor Society and an A student.
Staff writer Jacqueline J. Dozier contributed to this report.
[Front-page pull quote] “We’d always say ‘Jenny, be careful.’ ” — Slain student’s friend
[Photo caption] This photo of Jennifer Stone was taken during a recent trip to New Orleans. (Special photo)
[Photo caption] A law enforcement official investigates the slaying of UGA senior Jennifer Stone, who was found dead by friends late Thursday. (John Bazemore / Daily News)
[Pull quote, page 10A] “We planned to listen to country music today. That’s something we’ve never done.” — Slain coed’s friend