OC Register, "Mom: Murdered son will always be in her heart"

The mother of an Orange County Register newspaper delivery boy who was murdered in 1981 marked the 30th anniversary of his death by telling family members, friends and dignitaries of the need to maintain California’s death penalty. Kay Brenneman’s 12-year-old son, Benjamin, was kidnapped by recently paroled sexual offender Robert Jackson Thompson as the boy made his daily rounds. Thompson died on death row in 2006. - HTN Foundation

Mom: Murdered son will always be in her heart

By LARRY WELBORN / THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER

Published: Aug. 26, 2011 Updated: Aug. 30, 2011 12:43

Kay Brenneman, mom to Benjamin Brenneman, talks to the audience about the importance of maintaining the death penalty in California because her son was abducted 30 years ago by a man who had been recently paroled. She's juxtaposed here with photos of Benjamin shortly take shortly before his murder. ROD VEAL, THE ORANGE COUNTY REGISTERANAHEIM – Kay Brenneman stood before a gathering of family members, friends and dignitaries Friday and told them that a repeat child molester may have murdered her 12-year-old son in 1981, "but he did not take (my son) out of my heart."

A day after the 30th anniversary of Benjamin Brenneman's kidnapping and murder, his mother told 50 guests at a memorial tribute that "evil may come, but we can overcome."

With Rep. Ed Royce, R-Fullerton, and Orange County District Attorney Tony Rackauckas in the small crowd at Modjeska Park – where her son celebrated his 12th and last birthday in 1981 – Kay Brenneman thanked her friends for continuing to remember him, and for their continued support for strong pro-victim and anti-crime legislation, particularly regarding the death penalty.