Family of student killed in Davis stabbings seeks change in way city issues death notices
DAVIS — From tragedy to a turning point, the family of the UC Davis student killed in the Davis serial stabbings is seeking a change in how the city delivers heartbreaking death notices.
Majdi Abou Najm continues to mourn the loss of his son, Karim. Part of his healing is in helping other families who may one day face tragedy, too.
Abou Najm is shining a light on Davis's death notification process. CBS13's Steve Large spoke to Abou Najm about his efforts.
"What do you want to see change?" Large asked.
"I was expecting this question, but now that you ask it, it sounds like a very hard question because it is a very hard question," Abou Najm said. "When the news was delivered to us, and it was delivered in the kindest way possible, the people who were with us ensured that we're in a good condition and said, 'OK, we will leave you now.' I think they left us when the first close family arrived."
Abou Najm said after the Davis police officer and a trauma support volunteer left his home, he did not see or hear from them again. He wonders if some families are left alone for good.
"And the questions that we ask is: 'Is this the protocol, and if we really didn't have friends and family that took care of us, from that moment onwards, was this the end for every other family?" Abou Najm said.
Mayor Will Arnold, city councilmembers and the Davis police chief are now working with the Abou Najm family
"So I've been in very close contact with the Abou Najm family," Arnold said.
Arnold said he is looking at what the city should take a hard look at in its current policy.
"What options are available now, what options ought to be available, how should they be deployed," Arnold said.
"And this is an open question," Abou Najm said. "There aren't any packaged solutions."
Up until now, Davis has had an informal, unwritten death notification protocol.
Now, a written policy is being put in place. The Davis police chief delivered it to councilmembers Wednesday.
Out of heartbreak, this family and its city are seeking a new solution for the next time tragedy strikes.
"There is no one-size-fits-all, there is no prescription, there is no magic recipe for this," Abou Najm said.
The family is hoping whatever policy can be crafted can be used as a model to be adopted across the country.
