This article was originally published in The Examiner on October 5, 2017.
By Eleanor Skelton
Staff Writer
Students at Silsbee High School wore purple Tuesday, Oct. 3, to mark what would have been Tristan Dilley’s 15th birthday, Assistant Principal David Biddle said in a news release.
Dilley’s death was discovered Sunday, Oct. 1, amid mysterious circumstances.
Jasper County Sheriff’s deputies received a call about an unresponsive juvenile female at a residence on County Road 784 in Buna about 7:45 p.m. on Oct. 1, Jasper County Sheriff Mitch Newman said in a news release. The residence was Dilley’s mother’s home, according to an obituary from the funeral home.
CPR was in progress when officers arrived, but the victim had been shot in the head, Newman said.
Dilley’s little brother discovered her body, according to a GoFundMe fundraiser organized by a woman who said she was a distant relative of the family. Dilley was
spending the night with her mother for her birthday and was home alone, the fundraiser said, which had raised $2,250 as of Oct. 3.
Jasper County Sheriff investigators identified a person of interest in Dilley’s death Oct. 2, Newman said, but before they could speak with him, the man was found dead.
Paul Adams, 19, shot himself on a canal bank near FM 1135, Orange County Precinct 2 Justice of the Peace Derry Dunn said.
Buna High School staff and counselors also met with students in the school cafeteria on the morning of Oct. 3, Principal Roy Farias said. The students talked and shared memories of Dilley, who was their classmate in middle school.
“We spoke with a lot of the freshmen that went [to school] with her in junior high school,” he said.
Buna freshman also wore purple for Dilley, which Farias was told was her favorite color.
“We felt that they would need that support,” Farias said. “It’s a horrible situation, and we’re trying to make sure we all stick together through it.”
Posts from friends and family on Facebook commemorated her birthday, many echoing the sentiment: “Fly high, Tristan.”
Silsbee ISD’s official statement “regretfully acknowledge[d]” the death of a student, but did not release her name.
The district said they are “working to make sure that students and staff of Silsbee High School are comforted as they learned of this tragic and sudden loss.
“There are currently many local clergy and counselors available on the campus to comfort and pray with those grieving,” Silsbee ISD said.
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