In their sorrow of losing loved ones and in their fight for information and justice, San Diego journalist Kelly Davis was there alongside them.
For more than a decade, Davis told the stories of family members whose loved ones died in jail from violence, neglect and other failures. On Monday, it was their turn to tell stories about her, honoring her memory at a vigil in front of the federal courthouse downtown on that breezy, quiet evening.
Davis, 53, died July 1 after a years-long cancer battle, ending a journalistic career dedicated to uplifting the vulnerable and investigating the ways in which policies and practices failed to protect them from harm.
Her coverage of jail deaths in particular spanned more than a decade, first at the former alternative news weekly CityBeat and most recently at The San Diego Union-Tribune, where she co-wrote dozens of stories with colleague Jeff McDonald.
On Monday, more than a dozen people spoke about how Davis changed their lives, including parents, spouses and siblings of those who died in jail, civil rights attorneys and public officials, including Rep. Scott Peters, whom Davis had worked for at one point.
She revealed details about their loved ones’ deaths that law enforcement had failed to tell them. She told the stories of their loved ones as human beings, not as statistics or press releases. She inspired them to organize.
“You feel like the journey that we all walked, she’s been next to us,” said civil rights attorney Julia Yoo, who has represented several families of people who died in jail.
Davis’ reporting also spurred reforms, such as new state laws requiring oversight for California jails and multiple investigations into San Diego County jails, including a state audit.
“She was a hero in my eyes,” said Brenda Settles, whose son Matthew Settles was neglected in an Otay Mesa jail and died at 54 in an isolation cell in 2022. “She told the stories that no one else would. She wasn’t afraid.”
MaryAnne Pintar, chair of the San Diego County Citizens’ Law Enforcement Review Board, said she didn’t know about CLERB until she read Davis’ reporting and decided she would try for a seat on the board.
“Kelly just told stories in such a compassionate way,” Pintar said. “They weren’t about a number of deaths in custody. They were about people and families, and families that were hurting.”
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Monday’s vigil was organized by Saving Lives in Custody California, a nonprofit formed in 2024 by Paloma Serna. Her daughter Elisa Serna, 24 and five weeks pregnant, died in the Las Colinas women’s jail on Nov. 11, 2019, after collapsing in her cell and being left alone by medical staff. She had not been placed on the sheriff’s department withdrawal protocols.
Davis had been there with Serna as she said her last goodbye to her daughter at a Kearny Mesa crematory.
“This is very hard,” Serna said, her voice breaking. “(Davis) was such a great person.”
Davis’ work didn’t only shed light on jail deaths for the public — it also shed light for the families of those who died.
Sabrina Weddle’s brother, Saxon Rodriguez, died at 22 in the San Diego Central Jail from a drug overdose in 2021. If it hadn’t been for Davis’ and McDonald’s reporting, Weddle said, she wouldn’t have learned exactly how long law enforcement took to check on her brother — it wasn’t until more than an hour after he died.
“I have gotten more information out of Kelly Davis and Jeff McDonald than any … law enforcement,” Weddle said. “(Sheriff) Kelly Martinez never spoke to me the way Kelly Davis spoke to me and listened to me.”
At the vigil, the group displayed a picture of a fond memory from June 20, 2023: Davis had been named journalist of the year by the San Diego chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, and she had invited families of people who died in jail to the awards reception to be recognized alongside her.
“She made it clear that we all meant something,” Weddle said.
Also at the vigil was Shawn Mills, whose brother Kevin Mills, 58, died on Nov. 11, 2020, in the central jail.
“Kelly… thank you for telling our story,” Mills said. Then she issued a plea to journalists: “Don’t let our stories die with her.”
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