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<< Previous   of   Next >> Everett Police  (click to enlarge) Everett Police sketch of a possible witness to the murder. Courtesy photo  (click to enlarge) Sharon Jones and Derrick Everson.   ADVERTISEMENT   Witness sought Police are asking for the public's help to identify a possible witness to the fatal stabbing of Derrick Everson. Everson, 21, was found dead Aug. 20 in a wooded area on Broadway in Everett. An Everett man has been charged in the killing. Investigators are hoping to learn the identity of a man known as “DJ” who may have been with Everson and Kopp. He is white, about 5 feet, 9 inches tall and 160 pounds. He has a skinny face with acne scars. He is believed to be in his mid- to late 20s. The morning of the slaying he was wearing blue jeans and a gray T-shirt. He also was wearing a baseball cap with a the letter D on it. Anyone with information regarding the identity of DJ is asked to call the Everett police tip line at 425-257-8450.   CONTACT THE HERALD Robert Frank, City Editor frank@heraldnet.com   Published: Sunday, October 4, 2009 Everett murder victim a gentle soul, say relatives By Diana Hefley Herald Writer EVERETT — Tonja Jones remembers her nephew pointing to the huge, plastic Tyrannosaurus Rex. The little boy wanted that mean-looking dinosaur more than anything else in the toy store. Derrick Everson was beside himself with excitement when he unwrapped the T. rex on a long-ago Christmas. He also wouldn't go near the thing. The boy adored dinosaurs. He loved the thought of scaring his older brother and grandma with the toy. He was just too afraid to touch the dinosaur. “That was Derrick. He loved to scare people, but he didn't like being scared,” his grandmother Sharon Jones said recently. That makes the way Everson, 21, died even more difficult for his family. Was there time for fear when he felt the knife slice into his body? “I see him lying in the fetal position, crying for help. I can't seem to shake the picture out of my head,” Sharon Jones said. “I just want to touch him again. I want to tell him I'm sorry I wasn't there to save him. I wasn't there to protect him.” Everson was stabbed 25 times not far from his grandmother's Everett home. The knife pierced his brain, heart and other vital organs. His family only hopes he didn't suffer. They pray God took his fear away. Everett police arrested David Kopp several hours after Everson's body was found on Aug. 20 in a wooded area near Broadway. Prosecutors charged Kopp, 19, with first-degree murder. They believe he may have planned to kill Everson in the hours leading up to the attack. He told at least one person he was going to put Everson on the ground, Snohomish County deputy prosecutor Matt Hunter wrote in court papers. Everson, Kopp and two other men were smoking marijuana and drinking beer before the killing, witnesses told police. They were walking to one of the men's homes when Kopp attacked Everson, Hunter wrote. Kopp told investigators the slaying was unprovoked, court papers said. He appeared Friday in Snohomish County Superior Court, where his trial was rescheduled for Jan. 22. Sharon Jones, 64, doesn't believe her grandson was friends with Kopp. The two shared a mutual friend but Everson never brought Kopp over to her house, she said. Jones raised Everson and his brother with the help of their aunt, Tonja. Everson was good-natured, funny and loving, his grandmother said. When he was a boy he'd pull his arms behind his back and tell his grandma and aunt that he loved them all the way around the world and back again. He spoke his mind and joked that he was handsome enough to be a model. He adored his brother's son. He hated spiders. He loved Halloween. He once quit his job at Wienerschnitzel so he could work for a couple of weeks at a Halloween Spirit store, his aunt said. He had struggled in special education classes during his school years and didn't graduate from high school. Sometimes he was teased, his grandma said. He wanted to fit in and shrugged off the teasing, his family said. His aunt believes he kept the hurt to himself. Everson was working to find his way in life, his grandmother said. Tonja Jones is angry he didn't get a chance. His family takes some comfort in their belief that Everson drew closer to God in the days before his death. The weekend before he was killed, he talked to a pastor. He told his family he had found God. He made amends with his brother and sister. He told his aunt and grandma he loved them. “He isn't in pain anymore. He's not the butt of someone's joke,” Sharon Jones said. “God must have said, ‘You've had enough Derrick. I'm bringing you home now.'” Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463, hefley@heraldnet.com. READER COMMENTS Log in or register to post new comment | Log out Brian Caldwell you are a sick,sick PUNK! Fist of all my condolences to the family, what a sad tragedy this is... Why? Why are some people so twisted up inside that they bring so much pain to others? I ask myself... And then this sick demented person that calls themselves "Brian Caldwell" People like Brian Caldwell and the others that have posted their hateful comments to this story are some sick, sick, mentally and emotionally twisted nut jobs. The idiot that posted "Well if he wasnt smoking marijuana he wouldn't have been killed" what a stupid, ignorant thing to think let alone type out in a public forum (I notice that they only use their initials) This Brian Caldwell CLOWN takes the cake... It freaks like him that give this world a black eye... Brian, Please seek professional help if you can find anyone willing to treat you... DiGGer Don | Oct 5, 2009 10:34 am | 1 replies | View all | Post reply | Request removal Everett Murder What a sad story...tragic ending to a young life...and whats even more sad is the posting left by people that are so cruel...these cruel people are our neighbors...they are the ones we need to be scared of...they are capable of anything...they are heartless...just like the guy that committed this crime...they are no different...two peas in a pod!! T L | Oct 5, 2009 7:23 am | 0 replies | View all | Post reply | Request removal WOW! To poeple like Brian Caldwell, I sure hope that one of your loved ones doesn't get murdered. Because you sure are throwing stones. The victim, thats right, the victim was murdered. And his family wants everyone to remember him for the way that they saw him. They LOVED him, they had every right to love him, and to want to share the good that he gave them with everyone. How dare you walk all over this boys memory. You are disgusting and when tragedy steps on your loved ones, just remember no one is perfect. And if he loves god, and the idea of god soothed him, who are you to judge. you make me sick A. Nunna | Oct 5, 2009 6:18 am | 0 replies | View all | Post reply | Request removal THERE IS NO GOD I feel safer with deadbolt locks on my doors, staying away from drug users, and ESPECIALLY not believing that "God" is protecting me. This poor guy had an idiotic and incompetent family who had their heads in the Bible and the Church and couldn't see what could possibly happen in REALITY. SAVE YOURSELF!!!!! Brian Caldwell | Oct 4, 2009 6:09 am | 1 replies | View all | Post reply | Request removal Put this in perspective Murder victim was a gentle soul, but also a criminal. Let's put this in perspective. One crime doesn't justify the other, but if he hadn't been smoking marijuana with a fellow criminal, he'd be alive today. R N | Oct 4, 2009 8:46 am | 4 replies | View all | Post reply | Request removal "An ounce of prevention" I have compassion but also anger at people who turn to "God" for answers and to explain things and don't see what is flat in front of them. There is a definite link between "Coming to Jesus," and "Meeting your Maker," and "God taking him Home." Religious belief is the real pathological sickness here. Brian Caldwell | Oct 4, 2009 9:39 am | 1 replies | View all | Post reply | Request removal everett murder victim I don't think a person should be violently murdered for smoking marijuana.Just like women who dress in short skirts or low-cut blowse don't deserve to be raped. Lets put this on the sick creep they have locked up right now He did it and he deserves all our scorn,anger and pity if you can muster any, I know I can't. This is a shocking case and hopefully the police have the evidence to put this animal away for life. Mark Butschke | Oct 4, 2009 10:44 am | 0 replies | View all | Post reply | Request removal Sensationalistic Oh man.... What has this newspaper become? A National Enquirer wannabee? My heart goes out to the individual, his family and friends. I can't imagine his pain and their heartache. However, this article is so far over the top it's ridiculous. Skip the emotion-tugging and report the news! It's a N E W S P A P E R for cryin' out loud. Tony Laredo | Oct 4, 2009 9:38 am | 0 replies | View all | Post reply | Request removal It was not his 'own fault'. People who have to come up with some version of "well, it was his own fault" are sick, pathetic, and twisted. No. It was not his fault someone decided to stab him multiple times. My heart goes out to the family. Please keep the comments of disturbed in-duh-viduals who say 'well, it was their own fault' because they're either too stupid or too lazy to muster any compassion in perspective. It's not the way normal people think. Mr. Everson's death was caused by the person who stabbed him, not himself - armchair quarterbacking from psychopaths notwithstanding. Chantel Robertson | Oct 4, 2009 9:25 am | 0 replies | View all | Post reply | Request removal So sad I didn't know the victim or any of his family, but my heart goes out to them. Such a horrible way to have your life end. And to the people who feel the need to write rude comments about the family....keep it to yourself, they may read these posts. They are human, have feelings and deserve respect in thier time of grief. My prayers are with the family. Suzie Jacobs | Oct 4, 2009 9:11 am | 0 replies | View all | Post reply | Request removal So Sad !!!!!!! Wow how terrible of a way to have to die, 25 stab wounds must have felt half of them and maybe all of them. The person charged for this has to be a very evil person or a very sick person. I will pray for the family and I will pray for the person who did this terrible crime. My heart goes to the family of the victum , I don't know if the person who did this will ever read this but someone tell him he needs to start talking with his creator as I feel he will be meeting him soon. As I am sure the death penalty is in order for this crime. M. Metzger | Oct 4, 2009 12:29 am | 0 replies | View all | Post reply | Request removal

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