Audrie Pott Remembered During Candlelight Vigil at Saratoga High

Saratoga High School student Audrie Pott, 15, who committed suicide Sept. 10, 2012 after authorities say she was bullied and sexually assaulted by three classmates, was remembered by friends and family as a witty and funny kid during a Friday night candlelight vigil.

Speaking from the quad steps of Saratoga High School to an audience of about 200 people, Marion Pott, Audrie's aunt, said she was great girl with a beautiful smile with eyes that would light up any room.

"I know this is really hard when you're young," she said. "You always think it's going to happen to other people. You read about it. You hear about it ... death and suicide and you just don't ever think it's going to touch you and hurt you in a personal way and then it does and it just changes your life forever."

One of Audrie's cousins read a letter she had written to her, sobbing, expressing her love for the girl. "You were the greatest little cousin I could have ever asked for," she said. "I feel so blessed that I was able to be a part of your life."

A woman, who said she had a 15-year-old daughter at Los Gatos High School, told Audrie's parents—Larry and Sheila Pott and stepmother Lisa Pott—that her daughter was the girl's partner during summer school and they had become friends. "She really was a bright light ... truly a radiant light," she said.

She added her daughter is devastated by Audrie's death. "She'll never forget her ... She was a beautiful light and she will be missed by many and more than you could possibly know."

A boy named Zack, a junior at Monta Vista High School in Cupertino, said although he didn't know Audrie, he understood her pain as he was bullied last year, attempted suicide and was brought out of his depression by the power of friendship.

"We need to stop this [bullying]," he said. "If you guys see something online or in person, no matter how small or insignificant you think it may, please talk to someone about it because it could affect someone."

Some of the most moving speakers included Ann Brownell, at Del Mar High School.

The girl endured what her parents say was verbal, sexual and cyber bullying through social networking sites such as Myspace.com, Facebook and AOL Instant Messaging receiving 3,500 text messages prior to the tragic incident.

"I lost a daughter this week to cyberbullying," Brownell said, crying. "Bullying is something that happens in every school, in any age, even in preschool. We all need to work together to change how we talk to each other, how we treat each other and to love one another because if you take your hair color away, your eye color away and your skin color, we're all 99.9 percent alike."

Brownell said she had tried to share her anti-cyberbullying message with Saratoga High School two years ago, but was not allowed.

"If I had come here and done my presentation, maybe Audrie would still be alive," she said, her voice shaking.

Saratoga resident Maria Hunt-Perry said she asked the school many times to allow Brownell to speak to the student body about the issue, but the administration denied her request.

Hunt-Perry said both her boys attended the high school and at least one of them was bullied, receiving death threats and later being transferred to Los Gatos High School.

Anthony Larman, 20, a student at West Valley College who helped organize the vigil and is good friends with the Pott family, said he missed Audrie greatly.

Marion Pott thanked the crowd for honoring the girl's memory and encouraged those affected by the tragedy to remember lessons learned from it as they grow up and move on.

"Remember to treat people with love and kindness," she told the students. "The world is not always a fair place, but we can act a certain way ... Just live your lives better for having known Audrie."

There was also much sorrow shared over the family's misfortune.

A Saratoga High School student, who identified himself as Alex, expressed regret that nothing seems to have been done to prevent the girl from taking her life. "We need to work on respecting each other more because the way I see it, it doesn't seem like we care that much," he said.

Parents thanked the Potts for their courage to speak about their daughter's life and the allegations of bullying and sexual assault. "We're a community here in Saratoga. My son was her classmate. We went to Foothill Elementary School."

The woman said she knew the boys accused of violating the girl the evening of Sept. 2 after she drank alcohol laced with Gatorade and become intoxicated and unconscious.

Two boys at Saratoga High School and one at Christopher High School in Gilroy have been accused of sexually assaulting her and taking at least one photograph of the incident, which they then distributed in person and via text messages with students at the school, according to authorities.

"We're all affected. Everyone is hurting and trying to understand this," she said.

Another mother, who identified herself as Susan, told the parents that if their children are under 18 years of age and they're paying their cell phone bill, they had the right to download their text messages, put software on their computer to monitor their keystrokes and look online to see if they have social media pages.

SHS senior Albert Fang, one of the student organizers of the vigil, said although he hadn't met Audrie personally, he had attended a remembrance day in her honor on Sept. 14, 2012 and was compelled to help because of it.

Fang said he's also helping the Audrie Pott Foundation. "It's a sad situation," he said about the case, adding that the students are thinking about organizing a 5K walk/run in her honor.

Lisa Pott continued to encourage students to come forward if they saw something on Sept. 2. 2012 or after about the night of the alleged crime and the three boys arrested in the case.

"We're worried about the safety of this school," she said. "We couldn't live with ourselves if we knew there were criminals walking this campus and we're very concerned about all the girls who go here ... so please if you have something to say, talk to law enforcement," she pleaded.

Larry Pott thanked the audience for attending the vigil and the support they've given the family. "The emails, the texts, the letters, the phone calls ... It's been truly amazing," he said.

After his daughter committed suicide, Larry Pott said: "We were grasping at straws. We didnt' know what had happened and we didn't really have a plan."

Audrie's parents decided their mantra would be that no rock would be left unturned, he added. "We had to look at every possibility, every circumstance ... for Audrie because she was such a beautiful, special person. So much larger in life and now so much larger in death."

—Comprehensive coverage of the Audrie Pott case can be found on our topic page by clicking here.