Newberg school mourns student allegedly killed

by her mother

  
     NEWBERG — Just as summer break was starting for Veritas Christian School here last month, the school community received shocking, saddening news — the murder of one of the school’s young students, allegedly at the hands of her mother.
      As reported extensively by Portland-area media, Kristina Buckley, 38, of Sherwood confessed to police that she strangled her 11-year-old daughter to save her from pedophiles, according to a Washington County arrest warrant on a single count of murder. On June 23 Buckley pleaded not guilty to aggravated murder charges. Oregon law states that murder charges can be raised to first-degree aggravated murder if the victim is younger than 14. Buckley could face the death penalty if convicted.
      The body of Cecilia Buckley was found on the living room floor of her home at 17618 S.W. Galewood Drive in Sherwood on the late afternoon of Thursday, June 2. Police had responded to a report of an unresponsive person. Emergency personnel tried to resuscitate the girl, then rushed her to Legacy Meridian Park Medical Center in Tualatin, where she was pronounced dead. An autopsy confirmed that the girl’s death was a homicide from strangulation.
       When police arrived at the Buckley home, they found the girl’s mother had locked herself in the bathroom, with self-inflicted wounds to her wrists and neck. According to the warrant, Buckley made her confession during an ambulance ride to Providence St. Vincent’s Hospital, where she was taken for treatment. Upon her release from the hospital in mid-June, Buckley was taken to jail without bail.
      On June 16, Buckley pleaded not guilty to the initial murder charge. According to The Oregonian, her husband, Patrick, told investigators that Buckley had a “psychotic episode,” during which she demonstrated “paranoid and delusional behavior,” days before the girl was killed, court records say. He took his wife to a psychiatrist, who prescribed “anti-psychotic medication.”
      Heidi Jones, spokeswoman for Veritas School, said Cecilia was a “much-loved fifth grader who had attended Veritas since third grade.” She was on the school’s honor roll and had been the recipient in 2010 of the “Veritas Award,” an honor determined by the staff and given to one girl and one boy in each class who exhibit Christlike character.
       On Sunday evening, June 5, Veritas students, staff, and parents gathered on campus to grieve together and share their favorite memories of Cecilia. Comments repeatedly heard were: “She had the most beautiful smile” and “Cecilia was such an encourager.” Counselors and pastors were on hand to talk with those in attendance, a large poster was signed and delivered to her memorial service the next day, and notecard “ornaments” were made that have been laminated and hung on a large, potted maple that will be planted on campus this fall in honor of Cecilia’s life. Her fifth-grade classmates met separately that evening and wrote messages on balloons that they then released outside in her memory.
       Funeral service was held the following day at the girl’s church, St. John the Baptist Greek Orthodox Church in Beaverton. Cecelia also was a student at Sherwood Dance Academy and belonged to a local Girl Scout troop. Lea Ann Metting, co-owner of the dance school, told The Oregonian that Cecilia had a reputation there as a sweet and bright student who was shy, but confident.
      The Washington County Major Crimes Team is investigating the death, Sherwood’s first homicide in 10 years.