Woman principal 'stabbed to death by 17-year-old student' at $10,000-a-year church school



'Stabbed to death': Principal Suzette York, principal was found dead at the Memphis Junior Academy

The principal of a private high school was found dead after apparently being stabbed to death by one of her students.

The body of Suzette York, 48, was found in a pool of blood on Wednesday inside the Memphis Junior Academy - a Seventh-day Adventist Church-affiliated school which charges up to $10,000-a-year in tuition.

She had been the principal at the school since 2008.

Police spokeswoman Karen Rudolph said a 17-year-old student was taken into custody.

The suspect has not been officially identified, but sources told Action News 5 he is Eduardo Marmolejo.

He was said to have been on the scene in the classroom when officers arrived and taken downtown in the back seat of a police car to be questioned.



He was then taken to juvenile court after spending the entire day being questioned by authorities.

Meanwhile Suzette York's friends struggled to understand what happened.

Students and teachers wept during an impromptu prayer vigil for the principal at memphis Junior Academy after her body was taken away.



Marvin Lowman, Communications Director for the Kentucky/Tennessee Conference of the Seventh Day Adventist Church, said that Ms York became a teacher in 1983, and taught for a time in British Columbia.





He told My Fox Memphis that: 'Principal York was highly regarded and revered by all teaching staff. She was passionate and took her work seriously. She wanted the best for her students.'





Classes at the one-story, red brick school began Monday. A sign out front Wednesday said 'Welcome back'.

Suspect: Flanked by two officers Eduardo Marmolejo is led from the police station to juvenile court after being questioned throughout the day

Grief: Sisters Brittany (L) and Kristen Bridges, both former students at Memphis Junior Academy, weep during an impromptu prayer vigil for slain principal York

'Homicide': Memphis Police hold a sheet up as the body is removed

The school was surrounded by yellow crime scene tape after the body was found. Police officers milled about.



TEACHER DEATHS

Teacher at the Coast Career Institute in California Robert Herrera, 44, was gunned down in his classroom in February this year after an argument with student Law Thien Huynh .

In September 2009, special-education teacher Todd R. Henry, 50, from Texas, was fatally stabbed in the neck in his high-school classroom by a 16-year-old student.

In February 2010, Tacoma teacher Jennifer Paulson, 30, was shot at Birney Elementary School by Jed Waits who had become infatuated with her and had been stalking her.

'It's a frightening thing for children to see,' said Pastor David Steede of the New Covenant Seventh-day Adventist Church, who arrived at the school shortly after the body was found. He said he has parishioners attending the school.

The school's website says it has students from pre-kindergarten through 11th grade.



It's part of the worldwide Seventh-day Adventist school network.



'Our staff is committed to providing quality education in a Christian environment,' the website says.



A United Methodist Church and a church cemetery are across the street..



Linda Taylor told The Commercial Appeal she received a call from her husband who said the school called and told them to pick up their 14-year-old son, Josiah, because there was an emergency.



The school didn't say that someone had been killed.



'I'm just wondering what's going on,' she said at the scene. It is her son's first year at the school.

Church school: Officers inestgate the scene where Miss York was found dead in a pool of blood







