Jayna Murray was bright, adventurous, loyal and strong-willed, said friends in the wake of the 30-year-old’s brutal death. But in the shock of the tragedy, they struggled to describe her completely, while traces of her life left online revealed the Internet’s inadequacy to depict a human soul. “She was a great girl, a great girl,” said Judd Borakove, owner of Crossfit Bethesda, where Murray was a member.
Borakove and Murray attended George Washington University together, but became closer friends after college when they shared workout time and hangout time.
“She had tons of energy, she was always smiling. I don’t know anybody who met her who didn’t like her,” he said. “She was a stand-up person.”
Borakove said Murray planned to join her longtime boyfriend on the West Coast after graduating this spring from the Carey Business School at Johns Hopkins.
Crossfit Bethesda is organizing a 5-kilometer run in honor of Murray, an avid hiker and rockclimber, to be held at the end of the summer or in the early fall, Borakove said.
New Yorker Marivic Guevara spent a college Semester at Sea with Murray 10 years ago, traveling the world by ship and studying at every port.
“She was beautiful and independent in her ways,” Guevara wrote on her blog. “She was like the fun, blonde, energetic and vibrant sister I never had.”
Murray wrote a note in Guevara’s memory book of the journey: “Strive for your most far-fetched dreams! You are a young, beautiful, self-confident, independent woman — let nothing stop you!”
Little seemed to stop Murray, either — professionally or personally. The Richmond, Tex., native worked in marketing for Halliburton before earning a master’s degree from Johns Hopkins. She was due to receive her MBA this spring.
She left one online homage to her young and spirited life — a YouTube video of her attached to a bungee cord, leaping off of a bridge to celebrate her 30th birthday, and bouncing back skyward with a wide, toothy smile.
