2 Tri-Cities teens killed a beloved coach 18 years ago. Now one wants his sentence cut
Two of Bob Mars’ sons had to grow up without their father, and now one of the men found guilty of his murder could be set free a decade early because of changes in state law.
His family is asking the community to attend a hearing this week and help show support for his original prison term.
“I can’t begin to describe the angst this has inflicted upon us as a family. The thought of (Robert) Suarez being released or reducing his sentence terrifies me, and is such a gross injustice to Bob,” his widow, Kris Mars, posted last week on Facebook.
Suarez was 17 when he and Jordan Castillo, then 14, killed the Kiona-Benton City teacher in 2004.
Suarez was sentenced to nearly 27 years, and wouldn’t even be eligible for parole until 2025 under his original sentence, which was later upheld by an appeals court. But now, he could be resentenced to a lesser term, and ultimately leave prison early.
The changes in law were made possible by a 2017 Washington Supreme court case, involving the sentencing of Tacoma teen Zyion Houston-Sconiers. And two 2020 cases said the ruling to be applied retroactively.
“... (P)eople who were sentenced in adult court as minors, prior to the Houston-Sconiers decision in 2017, could be resentenced by a judge who considers the mitigating qualities of their adolescence at the time they committed a crime,” according to an analysis by NPR/KUOW.
The cases were cited in Suarez’s petition for to be resentenced. He is currently serving his sentence at Airway Heights Correctional Facility near Spokane.
Castillo was sentenced to 29 years and 9 months. He has not yet attempted to request a resentencing, according to court documents.
In a social media post, Kris Mars asked friends and community members to attend to show support for her family.
“If you are available that day and would like to support Bob and the Mars family, this is a public hearing and all are welcome. We would definitely welcome the support. I would love to pack the courtroom to show that Bob has not been forgotten,” she wrote.
Friday, Suarez was back in the Benton County jail and set to appear at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday in Benton County Superior Court in Kennewick.
2004 school attack
On Sept. 4, 2004, Suarez and Castillo had been dropped off in Benton City, and found themselves stranded. They decided to rob someone with their knives to get back to Kennewick, according to prosecutors at the time.
They made a pact not to “punk out” but Suarez said they later agreed not to rob the teacher and coach if he helped them.
They had been eating at a nearby diner, when they spotted Mars going into nearby Ki-Be Middle School late that evening.
Mars, 44, was an assistant football coach at Ki-Be High School, a sixth-grade teacher at Ki-Be Middle School and a wrestling coach at Kennewick High School.
The young men initially asked him for 50 cents to make a phone call, but he instead let them use his classroom phone. As they were leaving, Castillo stabbed Mars in the stomach. Investigators believe Mars fled into the school, trying to reach a phone in the teacher’s lounge to call for help. His cellphone was in his truck.
The teens hide near the diner to see if anyone was coming, then returned and broke the window to Mars’ truck and made off with a sack of Ritz crackers, a cellphone and $474 in cash.
Mars’ body was found the next morning.
Kris Mars testified that she assumed her husband hadn’t come to bed that night because he’d decided to sleep downstairs because he was snoring. She realized something was wrong when she didn’t see his truck in the driveway the next morning.
Life after tragedy
Kris Mars was working as an appraiser for Franklin County at the time, but as her boys got older she felt the calling to make a change and earned a degree in education.
She became a teacher in part to honor her husband’s legacy and to give back to the community that showed their family so much support.
“I remember going home and lying in bed with the covers over my head thinking, ‘You have two little boys you have to raise. Girl, you better pull up your big girl panties and get it together,’” she told the Herald in 2018. “I remember thinking, ‘You have to figure this out for your boys.’ That really was my motivation — how do I put the pieces back together, little by little?”
After graduating she worked as a reading specialist before becoming a second-grade teacher at Hawthorne Elementary in Kennewick.
She told the Herald at the time that in a way the teens that killed her husband were part of the reason she decided to become a teacher, so she could help kids like them build happier lives.
In 2018, she was honored with Kennewick School District’s Crystal Apple, which put her in the running for the state Teacher of the Year. She’s now teaching third-grade at Amon Creek Elementary, according to the school’s website.
Their two sons are now adults with careers of their own. Bob Mars also had another son who was an adult serving in the Marine Corps when his father was killed.
In the years since, Bob Mars has been honored with tournaments named after him, a scholarship in his name, being listed on a national memorial for fallen educators and in legislative efforts to address weapons on school campuses.
Suarez and Castillo’s trials ended up stretching over several years, with a state Appeals Court upholding their convictions in September 2008, more than four years after the killing.
This story was originally published December 11, 2022 at 5:00 AM.
