EVERETT — Ever since Angela Denise Beery moved to the Seattle area late last year, she urged her family to come visit.
On Thursday, her parents and her younger sister flew to Everett from their homes in Las Vegas. They came to collect Beery’s ashes.
Beery’s body was found on May 2 mutilated in a sleeping bag near Paine Field. An Everett man, James Michael Naudon, is charged with second-degree murder in connection with the woman’s death.
“We really don’t know what all happened,” Beery’s father, Donald Lemley, said.
Beery came to Seattle to help a friend care for an aging relative, said her mother, Toni Lemley.
The 39-year-old was a beautiful redhead who dyed her hair blond. She loved dogs, especially Sandy, a Dachshund whose red coat matched her own mop.
She once rode horses, loved to read mystery books and E.B. White’s novel “Charlotte’s Web.” She enjoyed music and learned how to sing in sign language, bringing songs to those who couldn’t hear. She was social and loved meeting new people, her mother said.
There was another, darker side to her daughter.
“We know there was a part of Angie’s life that was secret to us,” Toni Lemley said.
Beery had struggled with substance abuse, had spent time in jail in Texas and been an exotic dancer, Lemley said.
“No matter what, she didn’t deserve (to die),” her mom said.
Beery was stabbed in the throat, neck and head and there was evidence that she’d also been strangled, Snohomish County prosecutors said. Her body was found wrapped in black plastic and duct tape and she was stuffed in a sleeping bag.
Naudon, 25, was arrested in California and is expected to be brought back to Snohomish County in the coming weeks. Police learned that Naudon sent text messages saying he’d done something terrible, court records said. Naudon wrote that he was a monster and wanted to kill himself.
Beery’s family believes she likely would have found compassion for her killer.
“She would be very sad about what this gentleman did to her,” Toni Lemley said. “She’d still say she’d forgive him.”
In addition to her parents and her sister, Heather Farner, 34, all of Las Vegas, Beery leaves behind her beloved nieces and nephews and her two children, 13 and 15, who live with their father in Texas. She also is mourned by many other relatives and friends, her family said.
Her visiting relatives on Thursday night stopped to pray at the spot along the south Everett road where Beery’s body was found. They met with some of the neighbors who made the gruesome discovery.
It was at a small roadside memorial that Toni Lemley spoke of Beery’s maternal grandfather, who wept when he learned of her brutal killing.
He just broke down, Toni Lemley said.
“My little angel, my little angel,” was all he could say.
Jackson Holtz: 425-339-3437, jholtz@heraldnet.com.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
