Mother, Daughter Remembered After Dying In Helicopter Crash

SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO, CA — Payton Chester was pursuing her dream of being a basketball star when she and her mother, Sarah Chester, joined basketball legend Kobe Bryant and six others on a helicopter flight Sunday morning. The aircraft crashed a short time later, killing all aboard including Bryant's daughter Gianna, 13, who was a basketball teammate of Payton, according to a family spokesperson.

That flight left John Wayne Airport at 9 a.m. on the way to a basketball tournament in Thousand Oaks and crashed in Calabasas in dense fog, according to reports.

Sarah Chester, 45, and Payton Chester, 13, left behind husband/father Chris and sons/brothers Hayden and Riley, both 16 and students at St. Margaret's Episcopal School in San Juan Capistrano. Sarah Chester is also survived by her mother, Cathy George, and brothers, Chris George and Andy George.

Andy George, acting as the family spokesman, shared with the Register about their loss.

First came the news of the crash, followed by shock and disbelief that his sister and niece died in the crash, George said. Sarah Chester was "the one everybody counted on," he said of his sister. "We are heartbroken."

A graduate of La Serna High School in Whittier, Sarah Chester was once a "standout soccer player on the high school team," said George, himself a winning coach from Whittier High School. Her daughter, Payton, was also a stellar young athlete in her uncle's view.

"(Payton) was on the Mamba [Sports Academy] team for years — she loved it," George told the OC Register of his niece. "It was obviously a big part of her life."

Payton Chester had dreams of playing basketball in high school and college. She was in the eighth grade at St. Margaret's Episcopal School at the time of her death.

Her former elementary school principal spoke on behalf of the Chester family late Sunday.

"As folks mourn the loss of Kobe Bryant, I want to take a moment to remember two gorgeous human beings who were with him," Harbor View Principal Todd Schmidt wrote on his Facebook page. "As a principal, we work with some amazing families. The Chesters were one of those. Engaged, supportive, encouraging and full of mischief and laughter. And they had the best kiddos."

Schmidt wrote of the importance to remember not just the loss of a dynamic athlete and humanitarian but also of two others, whose loss is "keenly felt" by the heartbroken people who knew them.

"The world is just a little less without you both in it," Schmidt said. "You will be sorely missed."