KAITY’S STORY
Kaitlyn Marie Sudberry was born on July 5, 1990 in Tucson, Arizona.
She grew up to become a beautiful, vivacious, artistically talented, loving young lady who had empathy for all living beings.
Kaity had her whole life ahead of her. She was in her final semester as a senior at Moon Valley High School in Phoenix and had recently been accepted to Northern Arizona University to study Wildlife Science.
Kaity was one of five children, two sisters and two brothers, and grew up with a loving family in a blessed home.
She may have been a soft spoken and silly young lady, but she could always put a smile on your face with just her presence. Kaity enjoyed sports, gardening, cooking (banana bread was her specialty), drawing, painting and animals.
Her willingness to share the love she knew extended to a young man with whom she became friends in late 2006 and then eventually went on to date.
In the beginning, he seemed polite, respectful and caring towards Kaity.
She grew to care deeply for this young man and experienced her first love beyond the family.
About six months into the relationship the young man began to change and exhibited possessive and jealous behavior.
It ranged from calling or texting Kaity constantly when they weren’t together, making accusations that she was lying or cheating on him and when she went away to visit family he was crazed out of his mind about where she was and who she was with.
Kaity patiently tried to understand his insecurities and shortcomings and forgave him. Nonetheless, his behavior escalated.
With the support of her family and friends, Kaity came to realize she was not able to help him understand her devotion to him and ended the relationship in late December 2007. Kaity loved him, but knew she could no longer continue in such an unhealthy relationship.
In mid-January 2008, the young man assaulted Kaity at school and stole her driver license and debit card.
With the help of school officials her property was returned, he was suspended and a police report was filed. When he came back to school he assaulted Kaity once again, was expelled and another police report was filed.
Unfortunately, this young mans erratic behavior continued to escalate and he harassed Kaity by phone continuously and even then threatened to kill her and himself.
The information was given to Kaity’s mother by a Phoenix Police officer who suggested they get an order of protection. At that time, due to the laws in Arizona, they were limited to only filing an Injunction Against Harassment (IAH).
On January 28, 2008, five days after filing the IAH, as Kaity approached her house after walking home from school the young man approached her.
After a brief altercation, he killed her with a shotgun he had hidden in a duffle bag, and turned the gun on himself and committed suicide.
Kaity’s family did not want to see someone else lose a family member to teen dating violence and decided to form Kaity’s Way, a nonprofit dedicated to teaching young adults about healthy relationships.
This 17-year-old had a zest for life and wanted only the best for all those she came to know. Kaity lives on in the hearts of her family, but her spirit lives on through the organization and all the young people who get out of a teen domestic violence relationship.