Friends, kin grieve for Utah crime victim
Seattle WA Times 5Aug99 L8
by Keiko Morris: Seattle Times Snohomish County bureau

and additional articles listed after this summary

The Lynwood, Washington family and friends of LDS Church member Amy Quinton, 22, are mourning her murder in Salt Lake City just days before she was scheduled to graduate from the University of Utah. Police have no suspects in the murder, which they suspect was incidental to a robbery attempt.

The murderer entered the apartment Quinton shared with Lynn Drebes, 37, who was also in the apartment, apparently through an unlocked patio door in the front of the apartment. Quinton was alone in her room studying for exams, while Drebes and another friend, Erin Warn, were in another bedroom watching a video. Drebes saw the man and struggled with him and called for the others to call 911. Quinton then called 911, but was interrupted by the murderer, who stabbed her. The murderer then attacked and stabbed Warn before fleeing with the victim's wallets and cash.

Quinton was a stand-out athlete at Meadowdale High School, where she was a top hurdler and class valedictorian in 1995. She once drove her track coach crazy by showing up to a meet just minutes before she was to compete, "She walked in two minutes before the start of the race. I just about came unglued," said coach Julie Rowe. "That was one of the fond memories I have of Amy." Rowe later bough Quinton an alarm clock.

"She was very funny and always smiling," said Quinton's former track and volleyball teammate, Alison Fleury. "I can't even imagine the pain her family is feeling, but I want them to know that Amy touched many people's lives."

Quinton was studying Theater at the University of Utah and often managed to get jobs as a makeup artist, and as a dancer on stage. "She was a versatile person," said her faculty adviser Richard Scharine. "A warm and caring person. . . . She was bubbly and intelligent." She had parts in several campus productions, including "The Odyssey Cafe," in which a role was written for her.

Quinton's parents recently moved from Lynwood to Salt Lake City, where they were contacted by the hospital, but were unable to arrive before Quinton died. "They didn't tell us how extensive it was," said Judy Quinton. "We later found out that the wound was so severe to the heart that she was virtually gone by the time she got to the hospital."

Friends at the University of Utah hope to set up a memorial fund in Quinton's name to fund scholarships, says Quinton's mother, Judy. And the family is trying to deal with the murder. "We are holding up OK because we have a firm conviction that she is in a better place," her mother says. "That is the backbone that enables us to see this through. We believe that we are an eternal family."

see also:

Woman's slaying stuns friends in area Everett WA Herald 5Aug99 L8 http://www.heraldnet.com/Stories/99/8/5/11149919.htm By Martha Modeen: Herald Writer

and

Robbery Likely Motive in U. Student's Death Salt Lake Tribune 5Aug99 L8 http://www.sltrib.com/08051999/utah/utah.htm By Michael Vigh: Salt Lake Tribune