Police shooting victim was Wednesday’s Child

Bonneville County Prosecuting Attorney Daniel R. Clark has found Idaho State Trooper Andrew Francis’s conduct against Jesse Jesus Quinton during the officer-involved shooting on Nov. 2, 2018 to be justified.

This news story hit close to home for this reporter. Hearing the name Jesse Quinton, I remembered doing a Wednesday’s Child adoption story where young Jesse was featured along with his siblings. They had been adopted from Colombia by Roy and Rene Quinton.

I spoke to Rene after today’s finding clearing the officer of wrongdoing. She told me the family has no ill feelings toward the officer. She told me Jesse did many good things during his life. He served a mission for his church, and fought wild fires for years and was well liked, even admired by his fellow firefighters. But she acknowleded he had his problems and placed no blame on the officer who fatally shot him during a physical fight.

She also said she would appreciate me sharing the Wednesday’s Child report from the 1980s showing Jesse in happier times. I’ve also included a report on the Quinton family serving lunch to hungry kids in the park in the summer, when there were no free school lunches. Jesse enjoyed helping the family with that project.