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Payton Chester was a 13-year-old eighth-grader at St. Margaret’s Episcopal School in San Juan Capistrano, Calif., who played for the Mambas girls’ basketball team alongside Gianna Bryant and Alyssa Altobelli.
Payton previously attended Harbor View Elementary School in Corona del Mar, Calif. The former principal at Harbor View, Todd Schmidt, said about the Chester family in a Facebook post:
“As a principal, we work with some amazing families…the Chesters were one of those…engaged, supportive, encouraging, and full of mischief and laughter…and they had the best kiddos!
“This family made such a huge impact at Harbor View…they were genuine, kind-hearted, and caring…to the staff, to other families…and yes, especially to me.
“While the world mourns the loss of a dynamic athlete and humanitarian, I mourn the loss of two people just as important…their impact was just as meaningful, their loss will be just as keenly felt, and our hearts are just as broken.
“You were both the embodiment of #hvepride, and the world is just a little less without you both in it. May you both Rest In Peace and know the deep impact you had on our lives. You will be so sorely missed.”
Payton Chester was 13 years old.
Payton Chester died on January 26, 2020, in a helicopter crash that also killed NBA star Kobe Bryant, his daughter, Gianna Maria-Onore Bryant, Orange Coast College coach John Altobelli, his wife Keri Altobelli and their daughter Alyssa Altobelli; Christina Mauser, a high school coach at Harbor Day School in Corona del Mar; pilot Ara Zobayan; and Payton Chester’s mother Sarah Chester.
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