Father mourns second murdered child, appeals for tips in Chula Vista case

Michael Chen
Posted

SAN DIEGO, Calif. (KGTV) - An Emerald Hills man is mourning the death of his 28-year-old daughter, his second daughter murdered in an act of gun violence.

Kaelynn Davis was riding in the passenger seat of a car Saturday evening in a Chula Vista neighborhood when police say another car pulled alongside with a shooter opening fire.

Her father, Carl Davis, shared a photo of Kaelynn smiling and celebrating her birthday last Wednesday at his home — just three days before she was killed.

"She was as happy as all get out," Carl said.

Hours after the two attended a Pop Warner football game together, Kaelynn was dead.

Carl said Kaelynn and her boyfriend were driving to drop off food for his daughter when they pulled over near Steiner Drive and Higgins Street.

“A car pulled alongside and just unleashed a blast of bullet fire," Carl said. "In the process, he ducked."

Carl said 8 to 10 shots struck the driver's side of the car, and one struck the passenger side.

The two drove to a hospital, but Kaelynn did not survive a bullet lodged in her heart. Her boyfriend, whom Carl talked to, was shot twice but was released the next day.

Carl remembered his daughter as someone full of life.

"She was the life of the party," Carl said.

He acknowledged Kaelynn had struggled in recent years.

"She's like, 'Dad, but I'm not using any drugs,' but I said, 'You are around the wrong people,'" Carl said.

For Carl, the loss is a devastating echo of the past. In 2005, I spoke with him outside a Valencia Park home as he waited to learn the fate of his daughter Sasha, a mother of 3.

"This is the most horrifying thing I've ever been through," Carl said at the time.

Sasha was one of two people shot and killed during a home invasion. The shooter was later convicted.

Now, more than two decades after that loss, Carl is mourning again.

"Not again. Not again. It almost takes away your will to live," Carl said.

Kaelynn was his only other child.

When asked what he hopes comes from the case, Carl's answer was simple.

"Just justice," Carl said.

Carl is making an appeal for information as investigators search for Kaelynn's killer. While a motive for the shooting is not known, he had a message about the consequences of the people you choose to surround yourself with.

"The choices that they make … the ultimate consequence of being in the wrong place at the wrong time with the wrong people is death," Carl said.

Anyone with information on the case is asked to call Crime Stopper at 888-580-8477,