Seattle teen killed on mission in North Carolina

A Seattle teenager who went to North Carolina to raise door-to-door donations for the Unification Church in exchange for costume jewelry was found dead yesterday afternoon in a vacant Charlotte apartment.

Police late last night charged a 21-year-old man from a neighboring apartment complex with murder, kidnapping and robbery.

Jin-Joo Byrne, 18, was visiting the apartment building — offering jewelry to anyone who would donate at least $12 — when she went missing Wednesday afternoon.

Eugene DeMorris Evans, 21, was charged in Byrne's death, but Charlotte-Mecklenburg police would not say how she died.

"The fact that she's been killed seems a tragic reality," said the Rev. Phillip Schanker, a spokesman for the Unification Church.

The young woman's father, Martyn Byrne, who lives in Seattle's Greenwood neighborhood, declined to comment.

A church group dropped off his daughter and other teens at the Roseland Apartments at 4:45 p.m. Wednesday, police said. Usually, the teenagers travel in pairs, Schanker said. "But often they will split up if they feel safe."

The church members were supposed to meet later at a pre-arranged location, but Byrne, who graduated from Summit alternative school in June, never showed up, police said.

A church chaperone called her on a walkie-talkie. Byrne radioed back to say she was inside an apartment and would meet up with the group in five minutes, police said.

She wasn't heard from again.

Before police announced that Evans had been charged, residents of the apartment complex said a 21-year-old man who lives nearby was the last person they saw talking to Byrne.

At about 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, a man tried to sell jewelry to Sherika Brown, who lives in a neighboring building.

"He was trying to sell me a bracelet for $2. He had two black trays full of them," said Brown, 21. He eventually gave one to her and she gave him a tissue to wipe blood from a small cut above his lip.

A police spokesman said the apartment complex was in a "rough" section of Charlotte, a city about the size of Seattle that has had 51 murders this year.

"It's not the appropriate place to drop a female teen to solicit," said police spokesman Keith Bridges.

"I have an 18-year-old daughter in the program," said Schanker. "We are going to seriously investigate and reflect on our policy. If poor judgment was used, we will find out and act accordingly."

Schanker said he thought other teens from Seattle were in Charlotte as part of the fund-raising mission. They are "present and accounted for," he said.

Schanker said he has known Byrne's father for 20 years and "the entire family is very faithful and active in the church." He described Jin-Joo Byrne as a "warm, energetic and a loving person who was extremely dedicated to her faith."

"Her church life was pretty all-consuming," said Jody Granatir, a Summit teacher who taught Byrne in his math and U.S. government classes. "She made this decision go on a mission rather than college. It was one of the crises in her senior year."

Granatir also recalled Byrne as poised and dignified, someone who "was uncommonly sincere and reliable and took things seriously."

"We will find some way to honor her," Summit Principal Jennifer Wiley said of Byrne. "Justice was really important to her — making sure everyone's voice was heard and supporting the underdog."

The Unification Church, known formally as the Family Federation for World Peace and Unification, has about 10,000 members in the United States.

The church was founded by the Rev. Sun Myung Moon, and most of its members live in Korea and Japan.

The Charlotte Observer contributed to this report. Bob Young: 206-464-2174 or byoung@seattletimes.com.