San Antonio – The classmate of a girl who died from a stabbing in 1988 is hoping to keep her memory alive 33 years later.
Christopher Palmer, 42, was around the age of eight when he went to Westwood Terrace Elementary School with 7-year-old Jennifer Sue Delgado.
“As time goes by, your memories start to fade,” Palmer said. “It has been over 30 years. I remember she was just a sweet, young, good student who had a lot of friends. I remember she would wear this particular dress. It was like a Mexican style dress. It was red and had little flowers all over it. Every time I see someone wear that kind of dress I think of Jennifer and I am happy she wore in our second grade class photo because to me, that was just Jennifer.”
Sadly, on June 6, 1988, Jennifer was stabbed along with her mother by a man, who to this day, has not been caught.
She was in a laundromat at the corner of Westrock and Westoak Road doing laundry with her mother.
Palmer said it was hard to wrap his mind around it as a child.
“I knew what had happened,” he said. “Someone had gone in and got frustrated with the vending machine and stabbed them. I guess it was the innocence of a child because I didn’t think about it that much. I knew I was sad that she was gone but as an adult, you get older and you think about life is limited and life is precious.”
Twenty years ago, Palmer gathered their classmates together at the same location where Jennifer was killed, which is now a credit union.
Together, they held a vigil in her honor.
“The killer still hasn’t been caught and people are forgetting about this case and I wanted to do something more permanent,” Palmer said. “At first, I wanted to have some kind of small stone marker memorial on the corner where it happened but it didn’t seem like the best route to go.”
Then he decided to pursue designating a portion of Westrock in honor of Jennifer. He wants to name it Jennifer Sue Delgado Memorial Way.
He said as a father and as a man, her case has weighed heavily on him.
“I didn’t realize it until I got older, graduated high school and started doing all of these things as an adult that I started thinking about Jennifer and the things she didn’t have a chance to do,” Palmer said. “A murder of any kind is horrible, but for something as crazy as the way this one transpired and of a child on top of that. I just would hope that this would touch their hearts to ensure that this little girl is never forgotten.”
Palmer is now raising money to afford the application fee and production of signs which would cost at least $5,0000.
“I want her family to know that Jennifer is not forgotten,” he said. “And that all of her classmates miss her to this day. If all of this comes to fruition and those signs are put up, I would hope that it would inspire those who come across it that never even knew her but they look up the history and they can read about Jennifer and maybe they can take away more of an appreciation of how short life is.”
The pandemic has caused a lag in donations to Palmer’s cause, but if you would like to help, you can contact him directly at cpalm2022@gmail.com.
If you have any information that can be useful for investigators in the cold case, you are urged to call the San Antonio Police Department’s Cold Case Tip Line.