Thursday evening, the community came together to grieve the loss of a teenager less than a week after he was stabbed to death.
It was standing room only at the small Federal Way church where Alan Jaller’s family held his funeral. Grieving friends and family spilled into the parking lot and nearby sidewalk to pay their respects to the young man, killed at just 16 years old.
“They cut off his life without living his dreams,” pastor Clara Marino Garcia said, speaking to KIRO 7 through a translator.
And she says he had big dreams to help his family and community.
“Something I remember about his is he would tell his parents when he grew up they wouldn’t need to work,” she said.
She says like her, they came to America from Colombia. They never expected his journey to end like this.
“They didn’t come here for Alan’s death, they came here to improve their style of life,” she explained.
Witnesses say another teen stabbed Jaller with a pocket knife near Foster High School Friday morning. Bystander video shows medics trying to save his life. Police say their Major Crimes Unit is investigating the death as a homicide.
“I was very sad. It’s very sad, when you hear how it happened,” Soccer Coach Felipe Maqueda told KIRO. “He was a good kid. One of the best players in the program.”
Maqueda says he hopes Jaller’s killer is brought to justice.
KIRO 7 reached out to police Thursday night for an update on the investigation and to find out if they have a suspect. They did not respond.
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