Chelsea's Family Calls it a ‘Great Day'

A petition with nearly 38,000 signatures in support of Chelsea's Law heads to the state capitol.

Brett and Kelly King -- the parents of slain Poway teen Chelsea King -- were at Lindberg Field Monday morning, helping send off to Sacramento a represent ave of the Chelsea's Light organization. San Diegan Chad Goodman, himself a family member of a slain 17-year-old girl, was selected to take the 38,422 signatures to Sacramento for delivery to lawmakers who will eventually consider Chelsea's Law.

"The whole goal of Chelsea's Law is to get the worst of the worst put away for life without parole, and we have almost 40,000 signatures where we tried to get 20,000, through a whole volunteer network, over 100 locations in one day, where people just volunteered and said, 'I'm going to help you go out and get signatures across California,' " Brett said on Monday. "You can feel the outpouring."

The Kings and many of their supporters carried sunflowers, which were Chelsea's favorite, on what Kelly King called a "great day."

"This is a special day for us and an opportunity to thank the thousands of change makers who came out a few weeks ago and lent their voices to us by signing the petitions," Kelly said. "The purpose of the signature petition is to not only gather voices for Chelsea and Chelsea's Light but to let our legislators, our senators -- everyone up in Sacramento -- to let them know that this is important ... there is no greater cause, no greater reason, then to do something to protect our children and to do it in a way that's effective and powerful and that will make a huge difference."

The signatures are being delivered in advance of a Senate Public Safety Committee hearing on Tuesday, according to a King family spokesman.

"Hopefully the senators are paying attention and they'll follow along with us," Brett said Monday.

The Kings also spoke to the media about the news that they would be leaving the area, returning to Naperville, Ill., where they lived for nearly a decade before moving to Poway. Kelly said they would maintain a residence in San Diego and will return at least once a month to where Chelsea's Light is based.

"California is home to us," Kelly said. "We're not going to walk away ... there's so much work that's got to be done. The intent is to do what's best for Tyler and in turns of us moving back to Naperville, but this is home and this is where our work -- and our lifetime's work -- has begun and will continue."

"I'm a native San Diegan; Chelsea's a native San Diegan," Brett added. "Our roots are here."

Contact Us