Saturday marks one year since a man with a knife and gun took the lives of six students in Isla Vista.
A candlelight vigil is scheduled at The People's Park starting at 8 p.m. Parents of those who died will be in attendance, including Kelly Wang, the mother of George Chen, one of the men stabbed to death that night in the killer's apartment.
Wang said she's taking steps to keep tragedies like this from happening again. She and the families of two other slain men are suing Santa Barbara County, the Sheriff's Department and the housing company that owns the apartment in which their children were killed.
Wang said that the purpose of filing the lawsuits is to increase awareness that authorities and housing companies need to be highly alert.
"This is a line of duty that cannot make mistakes, while there are hundred of young lives around. I have to say this is the most critical job, to protect our children," Wang said.
She said that it is is too late for their children, but wants the lawsuits to prevent this sort of killing from happening to others.
Wang said that she and the other parents filing the suits will donate most financial compensation to campus safety and other charities.
They will soon set a court date in the cases with the County and Sheriff's Department. They're still waiting for a response from the apartment management.
"My motivation is to prevent this from happening again, to not have another mother, even one mother to have to live through what I have gone through," said Wang.
