James ‘JJ’ Hurtado, RIP: Photos to Remember The Murdered Teen

James Hurtado in a photo on his mother’s Facebook page. James “JJ” Hurtado was about to be a freshman at Hermiston High School and was already an athlete, competing in wrestling meets. His body was found in a remote area near the Oregon town on Aug. 18, and police say the 14-year-old teen was shot and killed by Jason Huston, a wrestling coach at the high school. Police say Huston also killed Kenneth Valdez, a fellow wrestling coach at Hermiston High School. Both men were wrestling volunteers who had known each other since high school and were also high school athletes who wrestled. Huston shot and killed Valdez and shot and injured Andria Bye, Hurtado’s mother, in Valdez’ home, according to news reports. Huston then killed himself with a self-inflicted gunshot wound, police said. Police were not providing a motive at this time, although the police chief said that the three adults shot had relationships with each other and neighbors told one news station that the slaying stemmed from a murder suicide because Huston was upset that Bye was alleged dating Valdez.News reports said that Hurtado regarded Huston as a father-like figure because Huston had previously dated Bye. However, police said the motive was not yet certain and they did not want to speculate. Hermiston is a town of about 17,000 people located in Oregon. The school is considered a “wrestling powerhouse,” one news site said and Hurtado was expected to participate in both the wrestling and the cross country teams at the local high school, where he would have had both men as his coaches.