CLEARLAKE – A candlelight vigil planned for Thursday will focus on protecting children in the wake of a high school student's fatal stabbing nearly two weeks ago.

The vigil will be held from 8:30 p.m. to 9 p.m. at Austin Park in Clearlake.

The theme for the event is "Bringing a Community from Healing to Kindness."

Dr. Bill MacDougall, the new Superintendent of the Konocti Unified School District, will be one of the featured speakers.

The gathering will promote a community-wide effort to create an environment that honors, nurtures and protects all children. The community is invited to attend, and asked to bring friends, family and candles to light.

The vigil will fall on the two-week anniversary of the stabbing death of 17-year-old Heather Valdez of Clearlake, a student at Carlé High School.

The teen died June 5 following a confrontation that allegedly involved a Carlé classmate, 18-year-old Gabrielle Varney.

Varney is being charged with murder and remains in the Lake County Jail.

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