Profiles of the six teen victims

Kim Smith

Saturday, Jan. 27, 2001 | 11:08 a.m.

Scott Garner Jr.

No one was surprised when Scott Garner Jr. said he wanted to be a Navy Seal.

The 14-year-old loved the thrill of racing BMX and dirt bikes, and he loved competitive sports such as baseball and football.

"He was always trying to get me to do something because I'm such a chicken," his mother, Vicki Gould, said. "Scotty was just one of those people who wasn't afraid of anything. It wasn't that he wasn't conscious of the dangers, but he was adventurous."

One of her favorite memories is racing against Scott on their dirt bikes in a dry lake bed in Sloan, Vicki said. It was the summer before he died.

She says she also treasures the memories that illustrate Scott's other side, his caring side.

He regularly bought her flowers with money he saved up from his allowance, Vicki said.

"He would hang behind at the store and say, 'Go ahead Mom,' and then he'd buy me flowers," Gould said. "The week before he died he gave me five pink carnations."

The Mahlon Brown Middle School student also loved little kids, Vicki said. He taught his nephews how to ride bikes.

Scott Garner Sr. said he was stunned at how many people came to his son's funeral.

"He touched a lot of lives, a lot more than I knew about," Garner said. "I didn't know half the people at the funeral. He was a child who wanted love, a lot of love, and he was willing to give so much."

His son was the type of person who would rush to the aid of elderly people whenever he saw they needed help, Scott Sr. said.

On the day he died, Scotty was one day away from finishing up 40 hours of community service, Scott Sr. said. He had acted as a look-out during a burglary and confessed to his youth pastor, who turned him into police.

"He admitted he had done wrong, and we decided that instead of Dad writing out a check, that it would be best to work it out with community service," Scott Sr. said.

"We didn't know it would be a death sentence."

Alberto Puig

"Berto" Puig was a workaholic whose big goal in life was to graduate from high school and go on to college for his mom.

Instead of continuing down the wrong road, Carlos Puig said his brother decided to make the most of his mistake.

When he served six months at Spring Mountain Youth Camp for stealing a car, Berto, 16, took as many classes as he could -- getting so far ahead that he was just one credit shy of graduating from high school when he died.

He was finishing up his last day of community service when he was killed, Carlos said.

Carlos, 19, said their mother was so disappointed when he didn't graduate that Berto worked extra hard to make sure he did. Berto also worked at a fast-food restaurant to give their mother extra money. He would work from 4 p.m. to 3 a.m. and then would get up and go to Las Vegas High School.

When Berto had spare time, he spent it with him, Carlos said. They would watch and play football, work on an old Chevrolet and play video games.

"He drove me crazy," Carlos said. "He was like my tail."

They also watched a lot of wrestling. "Anytime wrestling came on we watched it, and when the commercials came on it was our turn to wrestle," Carlos said.

Berto loved his family, his brother said. He always baby-sat his 4-year-old niece and jumped up to help his grandmother whenever she tried to take out the trash or do other housework.

"Every day it's like someone is punching me in the chest with a sledgehammer," Carlos said.

Anthony Smith

Two weeks before 14-year-old Anthony Smith died, he promised his mom that when he grew up and became an actor, she would never have to work again.

"Anthony was a kind, lovable person," his mother, Brigitte Smith, said. "As soon as you met him you took him into your heart."

Her son also was talented, Brigitte said. He loved to draw cartoon characters, both those he created himself and those that most people are familiar with such as the "Pokemon" characters.

Anthony, who was a ninth grader at Miley Achievement Center, was looking forward to going to high school so he could play football, his mother said. He wanted to be a wide-receiver.

At the time of his death, Anthony was one day away from finishing 64 hours of community service, Brigitte said. He and his friends had been caught stealing a $24.95 model car from a drug store and had been placed on six months' probation.

Brigitte believes her son stole the model car because changing hormones interfered with the medication he was taking to control his impulsive behavior. He had been diagnosed with Attention Deficit, Hyperactivity Disorder and manic depression.

Anthony was just beginning to accept his situation, and things were looking up.

Brigitte misses him terribly. "I miss him being a clown and his smile and his warmth," she said. "He was a very loving kid."

Malena Stoltzfus

Malena Stoltzfus already had names picked out for the five children she was sure she was going to have when she got older.

Malena's mother, Jo Jo Burke, said her independent-minded daughter had it all planned out. She was going to grow up, write books and raise her children -- Madison Marie, Dalton, Preston, Jessie and Priscilla.

Jo Jo said that even though the Centennial High School freshman didn't like school, she loved to write. The 15-year-old wrote poetry and short stories, never confining herself to just one topic.

When Malena wasn't baby-sitting her 6-year-old brother, Dillon, whom she adored, she was a typical teenager hanging out with friends, Jo Jo said.

"She was happy," her mother said. "She got along with everybody and had all kinds of friends. She never put anyone down, and she wasn't prejudiced at all."

Malena loved horror movies such as "Scream" and music -- everything from country singer LeAnn Rimes to punk rock, Jo Jo said.

On the day she died, Malena was finishing up 16 hours of community service she had been assigned for violating curfew, Jo Jo said.

"She didn't deserve to die. I miss her so much I'm sick. I miss talking to her, I miss that mother-daughter thing. We used to talk about everything. When she went, a piece of me went with her."

Jennifer Booth

Jennifer Booth was well on the road to becoming what she wanted to be when she grew up: a nurse.

The 16-year-old Las Vegas High School student was participating in the Medical Explorer program and volunteering every Wednesday at Valley Hospital.

"She was a very caring person who wanted to help people out," her father, Dale Booth, said.

"I never saw so many people at a funeral before. She had a lot of friends, and she had touched so many people's lives. She just had a way of helping people."

Jennifer loved to dance, was a rabid Courtney Love fan and enjoyed shopping and movies.

Her stepmother, Harriett, said they had a special friendship with a unique level of trust.

Whenever Jennifer would come over on weekends, Harriett said the two of them would pore over magazines and laugh at their different tastes or they would curl up on the couch and watch "chick flicks."

"She had this amazing laugh," Harriett said. "It was the neatest laugh I've ever heard in my life, and I miss it so much. I'd hear it from another part of the house, and it would always make me smile."

At Jennifer's memorial service, 60 doves were released for her and the other victims of the incident.

"There was this amazing whoosh, it was as if Jennifer's spirit and the spirits of the other children were going up," Harriett said. "I've never felt anything like that before, and I know I'm never going to experience anything like that again. It was just so spiritual."

Dale said that when Jennifer died she was doing community service because she had been caught with drug paraphernalia.

"That doesn't deserve the death penalty," he said.

Rebeccah Glicken

There were never enough hours in the day for Becca Glicken.

The 15-year-old Green Valley High School sophomore was always doing something, whether it was shopping with her mom, hanging out with friends at the movies or hosting sleepovers.

"Her friends were her whole life," her mother, Amy Swann, said. "She was just a very happy, free-spirited young lady. She loved living life to the fullest."

Although nothing was set in stone, Becca sometimes spoke of opening her own cosmetology business, laughing her "incredibly infectious" laugh because her own personal grooming habits were well-known:

Amy said anyone who knew Becca well knew she always seemed to have a pair of tweezers on hand. They also knew she went through so many Q-tips getting her makeup just right that the family bought them in bulk.

Becca was meticulous about her room. Every Sunday night, after her whirlwind weekends, she would straighten her room, putting everything in its place and making sure her hangers all faced the same way.

Becca was so well-loved and her grave is so often visited that Amy said a cemetery worker once suggested to a woman seeking a gravesite for her brother that one near Becca would be ideal because he would never be lonely.

On the day Becca died, she was taking responsibility for something she had done, Amy said without disclosing what it was. She was within 90 minutes of finishing her 16-hour obligation.

"That morning she didn't want to go," Swann said. "We sat in the car and she said she didn't want to go, and I said, 'You have to go baby, but after today it will be all over.' So she said, 'I love you' and I said 'I love you, too' and she got out of the car."

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