“It’s gotten a little bit easier to think about and everything, but (Tuesday) was hard and (today) will be hard, too,” said agribusiness management senior Kayla Lehman, a close friend of Brown’s. “It was pouring last year (while painting the rock) and we had to get tarps and towels and anything we could find to do it, and a lot of people really helped out with that so it was really nice.”

On Sept. 28, 2008, Brown decided to spend the night with her boyfriend, Jeremy Zimmer, and his family. The following day and nine months later, investigators put together the pieces that seemed to be an accidental house fire at first, only to be determined as a case of quadruple homicide.

Brown was found beaten to death while her boyfriend and his brother, Tyler Zimmer, as well as their mother, Sharmaine Zimmer were shot.

Although friends at first did not know if Brown had been inside the house, she became the focus of the investigation after Troy Brake, a former neighbor of the Zimmers who lived with the family in the ‘90s, came to the attention of investigators on about Oct. 16, 2008. During the trial, prosecutors argued a fascination with Brown led Brake to commit the murders.

Brake was sentenced July 7, 2009 to four consecutive life terms for the convictions. He lost his appeal of a separate incident — the May 2009 sexual assault of a prostitute in Kent County, Mich. — last Thursday and continues to appeal the murder convictions, according to WZZM-TV in Grand Rapids, Mich.

Whenever Kenny Chesney came to town, Brown and her friend, Elizabeth Kurtz were there.

Almost every day and night, the two friends would hang together and laugh — Brown’s great personality and quirky sayings created a growing bond during the years, Kurtz said.
“Even when I was first dating my husband, (Katherine) always had my back,” she said. “He would always harass me, you know, in a flirty way, and she took it too seriously and just punched him in the shoulder — everyone has a great story to remember her.”

But when students look at the rock on Farm Lane today, remembering the events of two years ago is not the absolute meaning of the message. Rather, it’s to remember her life.
“This year compared to last, the mood is less somber,” Krepps said. “(It’s) a little more of a celebration of her life, not that last year wasn’t, but it’s been a little longer. We had more time to deal with the events that occurred and how it is she passed — now it’s easier to celebrate her life and not mourn her loss.”