'It can't be real': Family of 15-year-old Rockford killing spree victim grapples with loss
Kind and patient, but also caring and brave. Very brave.
Jenna Newcomb's mother, Tabatha Newcomb, carefully chose those words and so many more to describe her daughter, Jenna Newcomb. She was smart. Sometimes she was silly. Sometimes she was shy.
The 15-year-old Rockford East sophomore was one of four people killed March 27 during a violent killing spree in a southeast residential neighborhood.
A softball player and member of the dance team, Jenna was at her father's home on spring break with her little sister and a friend when a man, later identified as Christian Soto, 22, of Rockford, allegedly broke into the home and attacked the three girls with her softball bat.
Jenna did what came naturally, her mother said. She protected her sister and friend and fought with Soto so he wouldn't attack the others.
Jenna's sister and her friend were two of several people who survived that day.
The attacks took place within blocks of each other. Police say Soto went from his house to a friend's house to several homes in the neighborhood attacking people.
Mother and son, Romona Schupbach and Jacob Schupbach, were stabbed to death their home. U.S. Postal Service letter carrier Jay Larson was stabbed and run over with a truck while on his mail route, and Jenna was beaten to death in her father's home.
"Sometimes it's like, this doesn't feel real," Newcomb said of the sudden, violent loss of her daughter. "It can't be real. But then you realize it is real, and it just hits you."
Jenna's mother, Tabatha Newcomb, 45, and stepfather, Robb Banta, 46, want to share the joy that Jenna brought to their lives and let people know about the Jenna Bravery Fund, a GoFundMe account established in Jenna's name where 100% of the donations will go toward Jenna's joys: the girls' softball team, dance team and the theater department at Rockford East High School.
21 minutes of terror: How Rockford's March 27 mass stabbing unfolded
A nurse in the making
When Jenna was a little girl she wanted to be a veterinarian, her mother said.
Then Tabatha Newcomb had a baby, Jenna's little brother. Newcomb had to have a blood transfusion after the birth, followed by a four-month hospital stay.
Watching hospital staff care for her mom and little brother inspired Jenna to work in health care. She wanted to help people.
"After seeing how the nurses took care of me and her little brother, she decided at that time she wanted to be a nurse," Newcomb said.
But before that could happen, there was still plenty of childhood left — softball games, dance recitals, learning to drive, trips to the mall and working a summer job at the local water park, Hurricane Harbor.
Jenna would have turned 16 on April 1.
The most painful thing
On the afternoon of March 27, Jenna, her younger sister, Sarah, and a friend, were enjoying spring break at the home of the sisters' father, Jason Newcomb. He was out of town that afternoon working.
Tabatha Newcomb, a dental assistant and home health aide, was leaving one job and on her way to another when she tried to call Jenna. There was no answer.
"I'm like, 'That's not like her,'" Newcomb said. "She always answers when I call."
Soon thereafter, she received a call from the mother of the friend.
"She was panicking," Newcomb said. "She said someone broke into the house and beat up the girls with a bat. And I'm like, 'Whose house are you at? Your house? And she said, 'No. Jason's house.'"
En route to her ex-husband's home, Newcomb called Banta and told him what happened.
Banta was closer and arrived first. The streets already were blocked off by squad cars. Unable to drive to the house, Banta parked his vehicle and walked.
Tabatha Newcomb arrived next. She soon realized that what took place that afternoon in the neighborhood was much worse than they had imagined.
And then they learned of Jenna's fate.
"I'll tell you what the most painful thing in this world is watching a part of your wife die," Banta said.
She said 'Please don't'
Newcomb and Banta learned more about what happened when they went to the OSF Saint Anthony Medical Center in Rockford to check on Newcomb's other daughter, Sarah.
The 14-year-old had a broken elbow, a broken right hand, severe head wounds and briefly lost her sight.
Newcomb and Banta came to learn that Sarah was in the kitchen when the alleged suspect, Soto, entered Jason Newcomb's home.
Sarah saw him, but he did not see her, Newcomb said. She saw the man grab one of Jenna's softball bats and walk to another part of the house, which is when Sarah ran to the basement to join the other girls.
"When he came downstairs, they had barricaded the door. But he got in, and he started on Sarah," Newcomb said. "Jenna got up in front of him and said, 'Please don't.'"
Jenna was struck in the head multiple times. One of those blows took her life.
Sarah is recovering and undergoing physical therapy. The extent of the friend's injuries are not known.
Finding strength in family
It's been almost two months since the March 27 attacks.
Tabatha Newcomb has resumed working. Some days are harder than others.
"I've woken up to find her sleeping on the floor with Jenna's ashes in her hands," Banta said.
Thoughts of staying in bed all day and withdrawing to a dark place are ever-present, but so are her other children — her daughter, Sarah, who survived the attacks, and four others ages 5 to 27.
"I need to be strong for my other kids," she said. "They can't watch their mom fall apart because they need me, too."
An unbelievable outpouring
Banta and Newcomb attended Soto's disturbing first court appearance April 2, during which he hurled insults at the judge and the people in attendance, calling them "puppets" and "serpents."
At one point, Newcomb and Banta were in a small conference room just outside the courtroom, and Soto's mother entered. She told Newcomb she was sorry.
"The heartbreak in that mom's face mirrored the heartbreak that Tabatha had in hers," Banta said. "People want to blame the parents and blame this and blame that. Maybe there is blame. I don't know. But I saw a lot of hurt and sorrow in that woman's eyes."
Newcomb said she often can't find the words to express her gratitude for the love, support and prayers her family received after Jenna's death and continues to receive today.
"The outpouring has just been unbelievable," Newcomb said. "People come up to me and they're like, 'I have no words. I don't know what to say to you. I'm so sorry.'
"And that's okay. I mean, what do you say in a situation like this?"
Chris Green is a Rockford Register Star general assignment reporter. He can be reached at 815-987-1241, via email at cgreen@rrstar.com and X @chrisfgreen.
This article originally appeared on Rockford Register Star: Family of Rockford teen killed in March attacks remembers her bravery
