Tuesday, February 14th 2017, 6:13 pm
Funeral services will be held Wednesday to remember Cayann Patterson.
Patterson and her attorney Brian Young, who was a former Norman North principal, were killed last week.
Patterson moved to Norman in 2000. Those close to her say she had a passion for children, and for 11 years, she shared that passion with the students at Jackson Elementary.
“There’s definitely a huge hole still at Jackson,” said Murray Henke. “She was just amazing with kids and they just loved, loved, loved working with her.”
For five and a half years, Patterson taught reading alongside Henke, and that’s how she became close friends with Patterson.
“She probably had a heart of gold. She was the kindest person you would ever meet. She would be there for you in a second if you called her on the phone saying I need help,” she said.
But Henke said she didn't know that this time Patterson needed help.
Last Tuesday, firefighters responded to a fire at Patterson's Norman home and found she had been shot multiple times.
She was going through a divorce and police think her estranged husband, Michael Deffner, killed her and Young before Deffner died from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Patterson just recently became a real estate agent but those she worked with say she never expressed to them either that she could be in danger. They said they are too are shocked and saddened by the loss.
"Cayann was a very sweet and kind person. She was very friendly, had a big personality and was liked and respected by all. Our thoughts and prayers go out to her family and friends, as they deal with this horrible tragedy,” Henke said.
Patterson leaves behind three kids and Henke said they were the subject of their last conversation.
“She was super-duper proud of the direction her children were going and how they were going to be successful in life,” she recalls. “I want people to know that. I want her kids to know how proud she was of them.”
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