The victim's parents, Greg and Dawn King, didn't speak at the memorial and have declined to discuss their son's life in any detail. King in recent months had been in foster care at Casa Pacifica, a children's shelter in Camarillo. The family declined to comment on what led to his placement in the county's dependency court system.
The only other speaker besides Birchfield was Oxnard Mayor Tom Holden, who urged the Oxnard community to see King's death as an opportunity for change.
"Next time you see someone on campus or on the street who needs help, it can be you to step up," Holden said. "Be a friend."
King's parents told Birchfield that they wanted the memorial at his church because their son loved the way the stained-glass windows in the sanctuary looked illuminated at night. The family did not belong to the church.
King was also a gardener and planted a passion fruit vine in the family's backyard so that it would attract butterflies, Birchfield said. Butterflies were his favorite insect, he said.
On Feb. 13, the day King was removed from a ventilator, his mother said goodbye to him for the last time and walked out of St. John's Regional Medical Center in Oxnard, Birchfield recounted.
"She was greeted by a beautiful butterfly," he said.
The memorial service drew a diverse group of mourners who said the killing had touched them deeply. Several students wore buttons bearing his picture.
Michael Herrera, who runs a mentoring program for lesbian, gay and transgender youths in Los Angeles, said he came to represent the adolescents with whom he works.
His organization, called Lifeworks, held a candlelight vigil in honor of King on Wednesday, he said.
"He expressed himself in a way that is not the norm," Herrera said. "And he paid for it."
Paul Dalton, 12, is a student at King's school. He attended the memorial with two buddies, brothers Parkher, 14, and Ben Murphy, 12.
"We wanted to show the family that we care," Dalton said.
catherine.saillant @latimes.com
