Slaying victim remembered
HARRISBURG — here is what the family of Jared stout would like people to know about the 13-year-old boy with the long blond bangs who, police said, died at the hands of his father on Wednesday.
Jared loved music and was active in his high school band and jazz group. He sang in his church choir and played instruments at Faith Lutheran Church in Junction City. He took great joy in downloading songs off the computer and figuring them out. and his new love in music was his electric guitar, the only instrument he practiced without being told.
He loved animals — including his dog Bandit and his rabbit Snuggles — and nature, including going down to Hayworth River bottom with Bandit and his grandpa, who let Jared drive his truck. last year he had one of his best vacations ever in Montana and Idaho, fishing, hunting, tubing on the Snake River, taking jet boat rides and camping.
He was a gifted student, a freshman at Harrisburg High School, after skipping second grade early on. He had an innate curiosity and loved learning — everything from the history of airplanes used in World War II to the latest electronics. He loved to experiment and tinker with things, taking them apart and putting them back together, always thinking about and questioning how they worked. He liked gadgets, video games, and helping his family and friends with their computers and phones.
He was looking forward to his high school band trip to Hoodoo and San Francisco and going snow boarding this year. and he hoped to one day join the Air Force and fly jets. He had already flown with friends when he attended Sky School, a summer program for youth interested in learning to fly.
“Jared will be extremely missed by his family and friends who felt blessed to have him in their lives,” according to a statement from the family released through Jared’s pastor, Brennen Guillory.
The family has lived in Harrisburg about 40 years, Guillory said. “a lot of people know them and they are receiving a lot of support.”
Jared’s church family also is mourning for him and trying to find the strength to deal with the loss, according to Guillory. “we weep together and pray together,” he said. “we hold one another and tell stories. we trust that God walks with us in the dark valley.”
A notice posted on the city of Harrisburg’s website said that a grief counselor, Marc Bouvier, is available “for Harrisburg area youth and adults affected by the murder/suicide…?.”
A spokesman for the Linn County Sheriff’s office said Friday night no further information was available about the alleged murder-suicide. Police said earlier that Darwin stout, 49, had stabbed his son to death and then killed himself with the same knife at the family’s home.
Lamae stout, 58, found the bodies of her husband and son at the top of a stairwell when she came home from work about 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Sheriff Tim Mueller said.
Mueller said investigators had learned that Darwin stout had become paranoid and made irrational statements during the past week and a half. stout had voluntarily gone to a hospital for a mental evaluation but was released from care after officials deemed he was not a threat to himself or others, Mueller said. He said he did not fault officials at Sacred Heart Medical Center’s University District hospital in Eugene for releasing stout. “unless (a person) trips the right trigger, they can’t do anything about it,” Mueller said.
Darwin stout told his wife when she left for work at the Georgia-Pacific mill in Halsey. on Wednesday that he was taking their son to lunch that day, according to the Albany-Democrat Herald. The newspaper said police logs showed Lamae stout had tried to contact her husband all day Wednesday but no one answered the phone.
Funeral arrangements for Jared stout are pending at Murphy-Musgrove Funeral Home in Junction City. The family requests that memorials be made to Womenspace or to the Harrisburg High School band in lieu of flowers.
Funeral arrangements for Darwin stout are pending at Fisher Funeral Home in Albany.
