Portland woman killed by alleged speed racer remembered

PORTLAND, Ore. (KPTV) - A friend of the woman who was hit and killed by an alleged speed racer says friends and family are devastated.

“It’s been torture,” Jodi King said. “I have never felt something like this in my entire life. I don’t know how you get over it. My life is altered forever and I know I am not the only one who feels that way.”

King says she met Julie Skeen, or Jules, in high school.

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“I moved there between my 7th and 8th grade year,” King explained. “She lived right across the street from me. Her mom worked at the school and introduced us when I was outside playing one day. The next day she knocked on my door, asking if I wanted to come out and play. It’s been love every since. Love of my life that girl. I mean, if you met her, you’d never not talk to her again. She was just that kind of person that made you feel so good, laugh so hard, that you wanted to spend more time with her.”

Last Thursday, King said Skeen was delivering her last Door Dash of the night when a car police say was speed racing hit them. Skeen was taken to the hospital where she later died.

“Her husband had gone with her to every single one of them,” said King. “They always went as a pair. It was the last one she was doing and then she was going to get together with our friend Becky and put their garage sale together. They were doing a garage sale that weekend. When Becky didn’t get a text from her she figured she must have been too tired. So when she showed up at her house that morning and there was no Julie and no car, we all panicked. It was just a phone chain from there trying to find Julie.”

King said they discovered what happened around 9 Friday morning.

SEE ALSO: Chase suspect charged in deaths of 2 Portland teenagers

“It was devastating,” said King. “Not at all what we were expecting. We were expecting Jules to pick up the phone and say she was ok and apologize for panicking us. This is not something I would have ever expected. She is the most careful person in the world. She was just so genuine, caring, and careful.”

King started a GoFundMe to help pay for Justin’s medical expenses and to lay her friend to rest. She says Skeen’s husband, Justin, is out of the hospital and recovering at his parents home.

“My first thought was what would Jules do?” said King. “Jules has been there and picked up the pieces for me a bunch of times in my life. She would want to know I was taken care of. I want to make sure I can lay her to rest, pay Justin’s bills, and they aren’t left with a large debt because an innocent person was killed. I will have her laid to rest right and honored the way she deserves. We lost a great human being that gave to the world, mentored kids, took in her nieces and nephews when they needed it, bent over backwards for her friends all for just a quick, little fun. It could have all been avoided. It didn’t have to be this way. We could still have Jules with us and we don’t.”

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