Claressa Lynett (Hudson) Jarrett was born to Jean Smith and Mitchell O'Neal Hudson. She had a brother, Mitchell O'Neal, Jr. and three sisters, Ramona Kay, Vanessa, and Tammy Ladonne Hudson. She also had four stepbrothers, Anthony, Jeffrey, Steve, and Randy Smith.
Claressa Lynette was murdered by her boyfriend, Michael Dowda, in 1996. He was convicted of her murder in 1998 and sent to prison, condemned to a life sentence. However, Dowda escaped twice and was at large for three days, sending fear throughout Lynette's family. See an article about his second escape, along with comments by Lynette's family, at Murder victim's family lived in fear after prisoner escaped. Dowda had previously appealed his conviction and the facts surrounding Claressa's death are included in his appeal, which you can see here: DOWDA v. STATE (2000), (Caution: the appeal includes a description of Claressa's murder, which you may consider graphic.)
Claressa Jarrett was survived by a son, Steven Tyler Jarrett, and a daughter, Amanda Nicole Jarrett.
See Lynette Jarrett: Obituary.
Grunge and hip hop. "Slackers" and "Valley Girls". The continuing spread of the Internet. The Gulf war. Rwanda. The first World Trade Center bombing and the Oklahoma City bombing. Presidents Bill Clin...
Photos of the 1900's which brought us from the industrial age to the technological age.
From 1900 through 1999 we witnessed the beginning of flight to a man on the moon and a Mars Rover. We went from using phones tethered by cords and computers that filled rooms, to carrying the equivale...
I'm a Founder of AncientFaces and support the community answering questions & helping members make connections to the past (thus my official title of Founder & Content and Community Support ). For me, it's been a labor of love for over 20 years. I truly believe with all of my heart that everyone should be remembered for generations to come.
I am 2nd generation San Jose and have seen a lot of changes in the area while growing up. We used to be known as the "Valley of Heart's Delight" (because the Valley was covered with orchards and there were many canneries to process the food grown here, which shipped all over the US) - now we have adopted the nickname "Capital of Silicon Valley" and Apple, Ebay, Adobe, Netflix, Facebook, and many more tech companies are within a few miles of my current home in San Jose (including AncientFaces). From a small town of 25,000, we have grown to 1 million plus. And when you add in all of the communities surrounding us (for instance, Saratoga, where I attended high school, living a block from our previous Mayor), we are truly one of the big cities in the US. I am so very proud of my hometown. For more information see Kathy - Founder & Content and Community Director My family began AncientFaces because we believe that unique photos and stories that show who people are/were should be shared with the world.