Slain Randolph teen leaves legacy:
Jennifer Parks, the 16-year-old New Jersey girl who was brutally murdered and dismembered by Jonathan Zarate, will be remembered by her high school…
RANDOLPH — It’s closing in on one year since Laurie Parks’16-year-old daughter, Jennifer, was senselessly murdered.
Parks, who attended Randolph High School, will be honored on May 13 by her classmates during the Pennies for Jen Memorial Walk, an idea generated by the student council that will raise money for a scholarship and memorial park at the school.
“I thought it was a great idea,” Laurie Parks said on Thursday.
“(I’m) really proud of what they’re doing. They’ve done so much for me and my husband.”
Parks said the scholarship fund already has $900, and that she and her husband, David, will award the scholarship to a student who wants to study editing or journalism in college.
“That’s what my daughter loved to do,” Parks said. “She wanted to be an editor or in journalism when she graduated.”
The walk will begin at 9 a.m. at the Randolph High School parking lot and will wind through a nearby trail system that connects the township.
The event is sponsor- and donation-driven, said Kimberly Standridge, 17, a junior who also is treasurer of the student council’s executive board.
Proceeds will go toward the scholarship, as well as a memorial garden.
Standridge said Jennifer Parks’ mother didn’t want the garden to be only about her daughter.
“She didn’t want the memorial garden just to be for Jen, so it’s going to be dedicated to Jen and other high school students who lost their lives during their high school careers,” Standridge said.
The walk is open to anyone and donations will be accepted on the day of the event. Standridge hopes the event is held every year.
I’m working on getting an address to send donations to.
