Saving a seat for Jaden: As La Quinta High holds graduation, slain student is remembered

Jaden Asher Ramos was supposed to don his navy blue cap and gown and move his tassel from right to left with his classmates at La Quinta High School's graduation ceremony on Thursday. Instead, an empty chair with his senior portrait was saved in his memory.

Days earlier, the 17-year-old senior was fatally shot — a day before his 18th birthday — during a May 19 post-prom house party. Hours later, two Coachella Valley teenagers were arrested in connection to the killing, and both were charged on Wednesday with murder. They pleaded not guilty.

“This is a tragedy for the community, our school, and for our senior class,” La Quinta High School Principal Gregg O’Mara said in a message to families. “The Desert Sands Unified School District Crisis Team is in place and available to any student, staff member, or family member who needs their support.”

More: La Quinta High School celebrates its Class of 2024 Blackhawks

Graduation a chance to mourn and celebrate

The empty chair left for Ramos was one of many steps the school community took to honor the student's memory during Thursday's ceremony.

Ramos' name was the first to be read before his peers received their diplomas, with his siblings and parents — who also received his diploma from district officials Thursday morning — sitting in the last row among the graduating seniors on the field. Students and teachers then bowed their heads and closed their eyes, observing a moment of silence to remember Ramos' life.

His best friend, Aidan Fetzer, later carried Ramos' photo across the stage while receiving his diploma. He and a few other friends took turns having their photos taken with the portrait as they crossed the stage. As Fetzer returned to his seat, he lifted the portrait up and down, prompting the students to cheer even louder in honor of Ramos.

A baseball player, dog lover and loyal friend

Ramos loved baseball, video games and dogs. He, like his peers from the Class of 2024, started high school as a virtual student on Zoom amid COVID-19 pandemic restrictions. He was the son of two educators, Michelle and Eugene.

"He was a funny kid and he liked to make you laugh," said Marcie Borchard, his math teacher during his sophomore and senior years, adding that she'll always remember his blue eyes and big smile.

D.Y. Baltaci, one of Ramos' classmates and friends from Borchard's math class, shared a similar sentiment.

"Jaden was one of the (most loyal) and most honest friends I ever had. He is the one friend who would be on your side even if we both (had) to fight a whole army," Baltaci said. "Besides that, he was the funniest guy who would make everyone laugh. It was just the best thing to be around him ... every single thought of our memories makes me smile."

At LQHS, there's a tradition that involves teachers bestowing silver pins each month to students who exemplify that month's characteristic of 'The Blackhawk Way' — being principled, balanced, open-minded and caring.

"I chose Jaden for 'caring,'" Borchard said. "That's a great word to describe him. He was a friend to so many."

Reflecting on the Friday before his passing — a day that was the graduating seniors' last of finals, last of class and the day before prom — she remembered Ramos eagerly knocking on her classroom door, ready to take the math final. He arrived to Room 614 in high spirits, bearing a box of chocolates and a card that he gifted to Borchard. They snapped a selfie together, "so that was pretty special," she said.

"He was like, 'I can't wait to graduate because I didn't think I was going to make it, but I did,'" Borchard said.

She acknowledged that Ramos occasionally struggled with schoolwork. Yet he always managed to find ways to get things done — even if not always on time, she said with a soft laugh, but he worked really hard and sought extra support through tutoring sessions.

"That was one of the things that he wrote in his card," she said. "He was just thankful and he was one of those kids that you never know who you're having an impact on, so it's just nice to know he recognized when people were trying to reach out and help him — and he appreciated it."

A few days later, Borchard made a copy of the card he wrote for her. As a quiet gesture of affection, she tucked in the copy into her ID badge holder, ensuring she would carry his words — and memory — close to her heart at Thursday's graduation ceremony. "He was a pretty special kid," she said.

Desert Sands Unified School District observed a moment of silence for Ramos at Tuesday night's board meeting. "We are heartbroken to say that tragically one of our students and the son of a staff member passed away this weekend," said Kailee Watson, DSUSD's board president. "We express our condolences to the family."

Board member Beto Alvarez also paid tribute: "A lot (these) past couple of days that's been on my mind is just the thought of being with the families who are mourning right now and those who need our prayers — to uplift them through prayers and being mindful of those around you."

Superintendent Kelly May-Vollmar commended the district's crisis team, as well as student support services and personnel, for the support they provided over the past few days to schools where students were impacted by Sunday's tragedy.

La Quinta Mayor Linda Evans also extended sympathies to the Ramos family and the grieving community near the end of the city council’s meeting Tuesday.

A candlelight vigil for the community to honor Ramos has also been scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Sunday at Civic Center Park in Palm Desert.

‘He was always one to stick up for his friends’

La Quinta High senior Jayvin Baxa first met Ramos when they were 10 years old and both part of the Desert Prospects youth baseball organization. They stayed friends, bonded by baseball. And, according to Baxa, they were particularly close as freshmen and sophomores, when they saw each other almost every day — whether as part of the baseball team or by sharing world history class second period.

"I remember, especially that summer between freshman and sophomore year, which was kind of the first summer after COVID when we were able to hang out and socialize, we had a lot of fun together," Baxa said. "We would travel for baseball and he was always the life of the party. We would go to tournaments in Arizona or Las Vegas, outside the valley, and it would always be Jaden that would be making everybody laugh at a restaurant or just being goofy. Never a dull moment with that guy."

Baxa said another characteristic he admired about Ramos was how he always had his friends' backs.

"One thing about Jaden is he was always himself, (he) never changed himself for anyone, and he was always one to stick up for his friends," Baxa said. "I remember during baseball games, I was never a guy that would talk smack, but Jaden was, so he would do it for me, and hearing him talk smack to the other team always cracked me up."

Baxa said he wasn't as close with Ramos these last two years because Ramos stopped playing baseball and they didn't have any classes together. When he heard the news, Baxa said he regretted that they hadn't talked much recently.

"Now that he's gone, it kind of made me really sad because he was genuinely a really great person and really funny, and I'll never get to talk to him again," Baxa said. "A lot of the other guys on the baseball team were still closer with him, and we were all reminiscing about all the times we had with him. He'll really be missed."

Desert Sun reporter Ema Sasic contributed to this report.

Jennifer Cortez covers education in the Coachella Valley. Reach her at jennifer.cortez@desertsun.com. Tom Coulter covers the mid-valley. Reach him at thomas.coulter@desertsun.com. Shad Powers is a columnist for The Desert Sun. Reach him at shad.powers@desertsun.com.

This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: Friends, community honor slain La Quinta High student Jaden Ramos