Robert King Jr. had more than a thousand colorful beads strung up over his childhood bed, one for every medical procedure, every poke of the needle, every night spent in a hospital room.
He was a medical wonder who survived a liver transplant as an infant, a near-rejection of that liver in grade school and also the accompanying kidney disease that can pair itself with such transplants. It was a boyhood spent in and out of hospitals with the breath-stealing prognosis that heβd never live past age 12. Robert not only survived, he thrived β and grew into a young man with an infectious laugh, a person who exuded joy.
Outside of the hospital, Robertβs childhood was spent swimming and skiing, building Lego towers, watching βStar Warsβ and, his cousin Brianna Kelly remembers from their summers together, putting ketchup on nearly everything he ate. He was extremely friendly and, as a child, often tried to hug strangers. He once invited Costco shoppers who passed his cart to eat Thanksgiving dinner at his house. His grandmother, he told them, was the best cook in Tucson.
Robert was 24 years old on a recent Monday morning when he stopped at a gas station on the northwest side. His childhood medical challenges behind him, heβd recently moved into his own place, started a new job as a security officer β and was in his first relationship.
On this morning, March 14, he was going to meet his grandmother, Pennie Kidder, at a nearby auto shop to get some work done on his car. Kidder drove to the shop at 11 a.m. and waited, but Robert didnβt show. She tried to call him, but no one answered.
Kidder, perplexed, eventually drove home. She found sheriffβs deputies parked in front of her house. They asked her if Robert was dating or friends with someone, a woman, that Kidder had never heard of before.
It wasnβt until later that day, after waiting several agonizing hours, that Kidder learned her grandson had died, the victim of a carjacking allegedly carried out by a woman with a history of drug problems and related criminal behavior.
Lia Felix Lara, 35, was at a detox facility on Sunday and left the following day, on March 14, court records show. She reportedly had struggled with addiction to heroin and methamphetamine and, records show, showed signs of impairment that day: bloodshot eyes, the smell of intoxicants, argumentative behavior.
Lara was seen driving a gold car with Robert on the hood, a witness told deputies. She was heading west on Ina Road near Shannon Road, and is estimated to have been going 60 mph before she crashed into a cement barrier. Robert died at the scene. She is in jail facing murder and other charges.
βSo inspiringβ
Robert was Kristen Dougallβs first patient. She was just 19, a patient care technician working on her nursing degree and caring for a baby boy who had just had a liver transplant. Alongside Dougall, also caring for Robert, was registered nurse Jean Gribbon.
The two young women knew Robert needed a great deal of care, and that his parents were unable to give it. Dougall eventually adopted Robert and raised him, together with her parents, Pennie and Raymond Kidder.
βWhen youβre a nurse, you pour so much love into your patients, especially patients like Robert, because you so want them to live,β Gribbon said. Having Robert killed so needlessly and so tragically now is just the βhorrible paradox of life,β she said.
As Robert grew, he came to know Gribbon through Beads of Courage, which Gribbon started in 2005 β an arts program to support children coping with serious illnesses.
The beads provide whatβs called βnarrative medicineβ in that children are able to tell their stories of courage using their beads. Robert collected red beads for blood transfusions, black for needle pokes, purple beads for infusions of medicine.
Robert also became one of Gribbonβs best helpers.
βHe showed up at many events and shared his very courageous journey as a liver transplant survivor,β she said. βHe always had a smile on his face. He was so inspiring.β
Robert lived in his grandparentsβ northwest side home for most of his life before moving out about eight months ago. He called family daily, asking how everyone was doing and if anyone needed anything he could help with.
His mother, Kristen Dougall, is now married with two young girls, Emily and Madison. Robert adored them, his grandmother said, and was teaching his little sisters what he knew of gymnastics.
Robert was a dedicated βStar Warsβ fan, a passion he shared with his uncle Raymond, and so his family decided his ashes had to be in something fitting. They picked an urn shaped like the Death Star from the movies. Robert was an organ donor, his grandmother said, and his eyes, veins and heart valves were used to help others.
Robert was close to his biological sister, Lexi, who was born just a year before Robert, and he was excited to meet his other two biological sisters for the first time when he would have turned 25 on May 18.
Pennie Kidder knows they would have hit it off. Being friends with Robert was so easy, she said.
βHe made friends everywhere he went,β Pennie Kidder said. βHe was a beautiful, beautiful boy.β
Robertβs beads will be draped over the wooden cross at Grace Community Church, 9755 N. La Cholla Blvd., for a celebration of his life starting at 1 p.m. Saturday, March 26. Those who knew Robert are invited to attend and are asked to wear βStar Warsβ gear or the color purple, which was his favorite.
In lieu of flowers, the family asks that donations be made to Beads of Courage at beadsofcourage.org/donate/ or to Banner Health at give.bannerhealth.com, in memory of Robert King Jr.
