Community mourns slain teen

by the Foothills Gazette
KENDALL – Friends, family, neighbors and community members came together several evenings last week to remember Felicity Elizabeth Boonstra, the 14-year-old victim in a murder-suicide in Peaceful Valley on Thursday, Jan. 7.

The group KendallWatch held a meeting on Monday, Jan. 11, featuring speakers and information to help residents cope with the news. Local sheriff’s deputies were on hand, as well as a counselor from Mount Baker School District and staff from Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Services.

On Wednesday, Jan. 13, more than 100 residents and friends attended a candlelight vigil at Kendall Elementary in memory of Boonstra, an eighth grade student at Mount Baker Junior High. The meeting and event was organized by several community members, and participants remembered Boonstra for her spirit, enthusiasm and kindness. Staff from Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Services presented information about domestic violence and advocates were available to talk with anyone seeking information or wanting to meet privately. Materials and contact information were handed out to anyone seeking resources.
A memorial service for Felicity was held the following evening at Moles Funeral Home in Bellingham. Friends and family told stories, recited poetry and played music in her memory, as those paying their respects listened and viewed photographs of her life. She was laid to rest in a burial service in Maple Falls on Friday, Jan. 15.
Boonstra was killed around 3:15 a.m. on Thursday, Jan. 7 in the 600 block of Sprague Valley Drive. She was in the home with her mother, Rebecca Boonstra, and her mother’s boyfriend, Sean Wilson, the owner of the home. The couple was reportedly fighting when Wilson shot and injured the mother, fatally shot Felicity and then turned the gun on himself.
The mother was able to run to a neighbor’s house for help. She was transported to St. Joseph Hospital, and has since been released and is recovering from her physical injuries.
Local sheriff’s deputies arrived to the scene minutes after receiving the 911 call. Felicity and Wilson were pronounced dead.
Boonstra and Wilson are known in the community and have served with various organizations. Boonstra currently serves as the Visitors Center Coordinator for the Mount Baker Chamber of Commerce, and has previously worked with the former Mt. Baker Economic Development Association and Kendall PTA, and ran as a write-in candidate for District 14 fire commissioner in the last election.
Wilson, most recently appointed to the Whatcom County Planning Commission, was one of four representatives of the Kendall/Columbia Valley area on the committee to update the Foothills Subarea Plan. He previously sat on the board of the Mt. Baker Chamber of Commerce, Peaceful Valley Homeowners Association, was a participant of Leadership Whatcom, and helped organize the former Citizens of Columbia Valley group, an organization in support of growth in the area. He ran unsuccessfully in 2007 for a Water District 13 commissioner position, serving Peaceful Valley.
During the press conference held by the Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office on Jan. 7, authorities said sheriff’s deputies had been to the house once before, in March 2008, for a domestic incident.
The department is seeing a rising increase in domestic-related crime and murders. In 2008, there were no murders in Whatcom County; in 2009, there were nine murders.
“We’re seeing a dramatic escalation in violence in Whatcom County and across western Washington for that matter,” Sheriff Bill Elfo said.

Resources offered in Whatcom County include the Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Services 715-1563/www.dvsas.org), Womencare Shelter (734-3438/www.womencareshelter.org) and the Bellingham-Whatcom County Commission Against Domestic Violence (www.dvcommission.org).