When Orlando Vijil reached the podium in the courtroom during a final juvenile court hearing for his young daughter’s killer, he clung to the wooden stand and hung his head.
He then spoke of his 12-year-old daughter, Kailey. He spoke first of how beautiful she was. Then of her truthfulness and bravery, how she helped others and was kind to animals. She gave the best hugs, he said, the kind of hugs that lifted his spirits when he felt down.
Jayden Sterzer, who was 15 years old at the time of Kailey’s July 2015 death, admitted in December to sexually assaulting and killing the girl.