Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Kelsea's Law

At a weekly Reader meet-up, at North Park’s Claire de Lune coffeehouse, I was prepared to hear typical neighborhood concerns from residents; too much graffiti, not enough police, errantly positioned stop signs, the usual type of concerns, all genuine and legitimate, but typical.

As I jotted them down, I noticed the lady to my right. Her eyes were cloudy and glassed over. She gripped a framed picture of a teenage girl. She appeared distracted and anxious, though, waited politely as the others spoke.

One Hillcrest resident complained about her car being vandalized and the subsequent inaction from the police. She interjected. “You have to remember that your problems are way down on the totem pole.”

“They might be way down for some people, but they are way up high for me,” the resident responded.

Sponsored
Sponsored

There was silence, and it signified it was time for the next speaker. She handed over the framed picture.

“This is my daughter, Kelsea.”

“How old is she?” I asked, unsure of a good way to respond.

“She was 17. She died in August of 2006.”

Again, there was silence. Kelsea’s mom, Tracy Moe, went on to explain. How one night her daughter complained about a sore throat and stiff back to her friend’s mom, Laura Wion. She gave Kelsea a prescription bottle. There were twenty pills in all, a mixture of penicillin for the sore throat and methadone for her back. There was a handwritten note on the bottle that said take as needed.

The next morning Kelsea was found dead in her bedroom from an apparent overdose.

“Sentencing is this Friday of the woman who gave these pills to my daughter, at the El Cajon court and I want the courtroom to be packed. I want everyone to know, so that it doesn’t happen again. This has ruined my life. I’ve lost everything and I want to make something positive out of this,” she said in between tears and lengthy stares up at the ceiling.

Wion, who pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter and child abuse, will face anywhere from four to six years in prison at Friday’s sentencing.

Moe wants more to be done. She wants a law, Kelsea’s Law, which requires warnings to be on prescription bottles about the dangers of giving prescribed pills to minors. “I don’t want anyone else to have go through this.” Instead, she wants set consequences for those who give minors pills and, more importantly, she wants awareness.

I gave my condolences. Moe left. Again, the table was silent.

“I see why she thought my problems were low down on the totem pole,” said the Hillcrest resident.

I agreed.

Sentencing for Laura Wion is at 1:30pm on Friday, July 25th at the El Cajon Courthouse.

photo

Kelsea

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Temperature inversions bring smoggy weather, "ankle biters" still biting

Near-new moon will lead to a dark Halloween
Next Article

The vicious cycle of Escondido's abandoned buildings

City staff blames owners for raising rents

At a weekly Reader meet-up, at North Park’s Claire de Lune coffeehouse, I was prepared to hear typical neighborhood concerns from residents; too much graffiti, not enough police, errantly positioned stop signs, the usual type of concerns, all genuine and legitimate, but typical.

As I jotted them down, I noticed the lady to my right. Her eyes were cloudy and glassed over. She gripped a framed picture of a teenage girl. She appeared distracted and anxious, though, waited politely as the others spoke.

One Hillcrest resident complained about her car being vandalized and the subsequent inaction from the police. She interjected. “You have to remember that your problems are way down on the totem pole.”

“They might be way down for some people, but they are way up high for me,” the resident responded.

Sponsored
Sponsored

There was silence, and it signified it was time for the next speaker. She handed over the framed picture.

“This is my daughter, Kelsea.”

“How old is she?” I asked, unsure of a good way to respond.

“She was 17. She died in August of 2006.”

Again, there was silence. Kelsea’s mom, Tracy Moe, went on to explain. How one night her daughter complained about a sore throat and stiff back to her friend’s mom, Laura Wion. She gave Kelsea a prescription bottle. There were twenty pills in all, a mixture of penicillin for the sore throat and methadone for her back. There was a handwritten note on the bottle that said take as needed.

The next morning Kelsea was found dead in her bedroom from an apparent overdose.

“Sentencing is this Friday of the woman who gave these pills to my daughter, at the El Cajon court and I want the courtroom to be packed. I want everyone to know, so that it doesn’t happen again. This has ruined my life. I’ve lost everything and I want to make something positive out of this,” she said in between tears and lengthy stares up at the ceiling.

Wion, who pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter and child abuse, will face anywhere from four to six years in prison at Friday’s sentencing.

Moe wants more to be done. She wants a law, Kelsea’s Law, which requires warnings to be on prescription bottles about the dangers of giving prescribed pills to minors. “I don’t want anyone else to have go through this.” Instead, she wants set consequences for those who give minors pills and, more importantly, she wants awareness.

I gave my condolences. Moe left. Again, the table was silent.

“I see why she thought my problems were low down on the totem pole,” said the Hillcrest resident.

I agreed.

Sentencing for Laura Wion is at 1:30pm on Friday, July 25th at the El Cajon Courthouse.

photo

Kelsea

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Please enjoy this clickable Reader flipbook. Linked text and ads are flash-highlighted in blue for your convenience. To enhance your viewing, please open full screen mode by clicking the icon on the far right of the black flipbook toolbar.

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Gonzo Report: Three nights of Mission Bayfest bring bliss

“This is a top-notch production.”
Next Article

Filmora 14’s AI Tools Streamline Content Creation for Marketers

Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader