'Her laugh just made everybody laugh': Childhood friend remembers the Jessica Caron she knew

Tammy-Lynn Harms still remembers meeting Jessica Caronthree decades ago in elementary school.

It was the early 1990s, when Caron was still Jessica Applegateand the two girls were in Grade 6 at Lester B. Pearson School in Saskatoon.

"We just became instant friends,"Harms recalled."She had such an infectious smile and her laugh made everyone laugh."

In their small circle offour friends,Harms said, Caron became the "follow-through friend."

"We'd come up with ideas and she would be the one who would be like, 'Let's just do it.'"

These days, Harms is thinking about her childhood friend for a different reason.

On Feb. 7, police discovered Caron's body dumped in a snowbank west of the city. Derek Caron, her partner and childhood crush, is charged withsecond-degree murder in her death.

Harms said the girl she had known in grade school changed when they got to high school.

Caron began using alcohol, crystal meth, marijuana and cocaine in high school, and hanging out with new friends: "She took a harder path than what we chose."

"When Jessica was on that kind of stuff, she wasn't the person we knew she was. It was almost like the devil had taken her over," Harmssaid.

By her 20s, Caron had six children.

Tammy and Jessica had both known Derek Caron in elementary and high school:"She had essentially been in love with him since Grade 8."

However,in 1999,Caron, 21 at the time, led police on a high-speed chase through downtown Saskatoon. It ended when the stolen car Caron was driving slammed into a van, killing a Rosetown couple, Verne and Trevor Nordholm.

He pleaded guilty to criminal negligence causing death and was sentenced toseven years in prison.

The pair reconnected after Caron's release, Harms says, and it was a tempestuous relationship.

"If they weren't drinking or doing drugs, they were great, they were very lovey-dovey," she said.

"I mean, he was a very caring personwhen they weren't doing that kind of stuff. The moment there was alcohol or drugs involved, it was a very volatile situation."

Son slain in Saskatoon

Harms said Jessica began cleaning up her life in 2020 after her adult son, Brandon Applegate, was killed in Saskatoon.

"When that happened is kind of when she clicked out of the situation:'My son was just murdered,'" Harms recalled. "That's when she started to turn her life around."

Harms says Jessica had made plans to move to Prince Albert shortly before her death. She was also gearing up for the court process involving her son's killer.

Justin Ballantyne will appearat Court of King's Bench on March 6 where, according to his lawyer, he'll plead guilty to manslaughter in Applegate's death.

Now, Jessica Caron's family will be there in her stead.

"It's going to be a rough go of it, for sure. They're going to do their [victim impact]statements before he's sentenced," Harms said.

"And then, on March 9, is Derek's appearance, so one trial isn't even over and they're starting another one."

The family has created a fundraiser page to raise money to help with funeral expenses.