Victor community remembers Kali Randall and Zeke Best
VICTOR, Idaho (KIFI) - The Victor community gathered Thursday to honor the lives of Kali Randall and Keke Best. The two lives taken far too soon, but in that short amount of time, their neighbors say they touched many.
The mother was found on Nov. 30 murdered outside her home in Teton County. Her 10-month-old son was found dead in the backcountry of Bonneville County just days later.
The suspect in this case, Kali's husband Jeremy Best, now sits in the Bonneville County jail. He's charged with two counts of homicide for the death of his wife and her second unborn child.
Thursday night friends, neighbors and friends as good as family gathered to pay their respects. Doug Colonel, Kali's longtime friend, came to say goodbye.
"I have known both Kali and Jeremy for years, and attended their wedding," Colonel said. "I Understood their ups and downs. But I am devastated by this end result of where we are. Like so many other people."
Kali was originally a silversmith from Greenville, Wis., but we were told by several of her old friends that she later worked on a boat crew in on Jenny Lake in the Teton National Forest.
Colonel said Randall was very gifted with her hands and giving of herself.
The vigil was organized by the Family Safety Network along with the Mental Health Coalition of Victor. As the snow and dark set in, the soft glow of the candles marked the solemn feeling in the park.
The service was overseen by Karlin Bilcher, a pastor at Church in the Tetons, who presided over Kali and Jeremy's wedding.
"I got to tell you," Bilcher told the candlelit crowd. "I'm on this end of things. I'm torn up, man. I am really. I'm experiencing grief, anger and sadness. Frustration, perhaps even a little embarrassment..."
"It's easy in grief and sadness and frustration and embarrassment and guilt and shame and just to, like, cave in on yourself. We have to reject that. You have to choose something different. We can seek support from one another."
Bilcher told Kali's friends and neighbors he like them had the pleasure of knowing Kali well. Something that he will treasure for a lifetime.
"I knew her beauty from the inside and the outside," Bilcher said. "Kali was a gifted artist, a loving mountain mama and a badass snowboarder."
As for 10-month-old Zeke, Bilcher said, "there are no words to describe that beautiful bundle of chubby, red cheeked joy."
In a moment of silence the crowd honored the lives of Zeke, Kali and her unborn child.
Bilcher said the deaths of Kali and Zeke mark the second time in recent memory where Teton County has lost a life to intimate partner violence. Something that he says the community can't afford to forget.
"Who among us is aware of the leading cause of death for pregnant women in the United States of America?" Bilcher asked the crowd of assembled mourners. "...It's homicide. Most pregnant women who die are murdered."
"My friends and neighbors, we do not have to remain ignorant. I'll go as far as saying that it would be morally wrong for us to remain willfully ignorant regarding the issues of mental health and intimate partner violence. Yes, evil. We're facing it. It's in the air. It's just around us. Ignorance. However we choose to say 'Hell no.'"
In addition to the service, volunteers have assembling a memorial where individuals can write messages to the family of the victims.
The wall can be found at victor city park until the end of the month.
