EVERETT – Jay Clements died trying to bring peace to those around him.
In the end, he did.
On Saturday, a standing-room-only crowd packed Our Savior’s Lutheran Church in the 200 block of Mukilteo Boulevard to remember Clements, who was shot to death Sept. 3 outside a party in Brier. He was 21.
Police say Clements, who lived in Everett, was killed while trying to prevent a fight.
Dan Clements, Jay’s father, told the room of family and friends not to be consumed by bitterness over what happened.
Strongly, and warmly, he told them to remember who his son was – a young man who knew the thrill of fresh powder beneath his snowboard, who appreciated the color of sunlight on a mountainside.
“Remember that a life beautifully lived never dies,” said Clements, the finance director for the city of Edmonds since 2003 and for 11 years before that for Snohomish County.
Jay Clements dreamed of being a professional snowboarder. He rode mountain bikes and held a second-degree black belt in tae kwon do.
Daniel Alleman, 21, had been a close friend of Clements’ since they attended Olympic View Middle School.
After the service, Alleman stood outside the church doors, embracing others as they came out. Some of them were old friends whom he hadn’t seen in a long time, he said.
“If you can bring one positive from this, it’s that he brought everyone he knew closer,” Alleman said of Clements. “He was trying to bring peace when it happened, and he brought peace to so many people here.”
Clements was with friends at a house party in Brier when six young men were reportedly called there for a fight, police said.
Shots were fired into a crowd. Clements was hit twice.
Eight suspects have been arrested or charged in connection with Clements’ death.
Police have identified four additional suspects who are still at large.
The alleged gunman, Noel Evan Caldellis, 18, of Seattle was ordered jailed Sept. 5 in lieu of $1 million bail. He’s charged with first-degree murder.
Dan Clements reminded people at the service Saturday that the person accused of killing his son isn’t a gang member or a terrorist. It didn’t happen in a bad neighborhood, either, he said.
Then he asked the audience what would motivate a young adult to take another’s life.
“I wish I knew the answer, but I don’t,” Clements said.
“We need to move on.”
Reporter Scott Pesznecker: 425-339-3436 or spesznecker@heraldnet.com.
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