Source: The Columbian News

Promising life cut short for Vancouver teen
Friday, April 21, 2006
By Kelly Adams, Columbian staff writer

Anna E. Svidersky was a busy 17-year-old: two jobs, a full slate of classes at Fort Vancouver High School, lots of plans for the future. But on a break during her evening shift at McDonald's Thursday night, all that was taken away.

That's when police say David Barton Sullivan, 28, walked in and stabbed her to death with a kitchen knife.

Svidersky was going to be 18 next Wednesday. She planned to go to the prom in May, graduate from Fort Vancouver in June, and go to college. Mike Block, 20, her friend and co-worker had plans to get together over the weekend.

Instead, he will be starting the long recovery from witnessing the stabbing that took Svidersky's life.

She was sitting at one of the tables in the dining room at about 8 p.m. when a man walked in and plunged a knife in her side, Block said.

"The guy walked in out of nowhere," Block said. "He didn't say anything."

The suspect was gone less than two minutes later.

Block went after the man, watching him toss the knife near the Texaco service station on Fourth Plain Boulevard and run out into traffic. He was almost to state Highway 500 when the police arrived. Block pointed him out then led them back to where he had dropped the weapon.

Block had never seen the suspect before and didn't think Svidersky had ever seen him before.

"She was a nice person, she wasn't mean to anybody," he said. "She was a good friend."

Mason O'Lennick, 20, of Vancouver had been friends with Svidersky for about four months, meeting her through his sister. On Monday, they went shopping for a prom dress. A petite 5 foot 2, Svidersky had a hard time finding a dress that was small enough.

"She couldn't find one that fit her," O'Lennick said. "I thought they all looked wonderful on her."

He first heard about the stabbing on the 10 p.m. news before the name of the victim was released. O'Lennick struggled to remember his friend's work schedule.

"I was initially begging it was not her," he said.

While O'Lennick was watching the news accounts, he got a call confirming the victim was Svidersky. His first thought was: "She's so little and so young."

As the shock was subsiding, O'Lennick remembered a creative young woman with "a wonderful sense of humor."

"She told a lot of jokes and was very off-the-wall at the same time," he said.

Svidersky started working at the restaurant in October 2004, most recently a crew person, a member of the staff that serves the public from behind the counter, said Julie Edwards, a McDonald's spokeswoman in Portland.

Matt Hadwin, owner and operator of the restaurant, tended to his customers and staff Friday, doing what he could to temper the shock of losing a popular worker under such traumatic circumstances.

On Friday, Hadwin made a point to chat with teens who stopped by. He struck a quiet, reassuring tone, letting them know they were safe and welcome. At one point Friday afternoon, he approached a group of six teens who had been eating. They listened somberly, one girl wearing a sweatshirt with Russian letters.

Hadwin didn't talk to reporters but issued a statement.

"We are shocked and saddened by this random act of violence against one of our employees," he said. "Our thoughts and prayers go out to her family and friends during this difficult time."

On Friday, Hadwin lowered the U.S. flag outside the store to half-staff.

Added: April 23, 2006