Thousands of people joined together to say goodbye
to Samantha at Crystal Cathedral. Two days before she should have turned
six years old, Samantha was laid to rest:
"Samantha was all that was good in the world,
and what happened to her is all that was
evil in the world"
Mike Carona
Addressing the crowd, Erin Runnion spoke through
tears:
"This has been the most awful nightmare, and
your sympathy and love throughout have
given my family tremendous comfort and strength.
Nothing can bring our baby back, but
knowing that her death was handled with the
utmost integrity, her life cherished by so many,
does bring some solace"
Many of the people who were there, didn't even know
Samantha, except through pictures and news stories. All were touched by
what had happened:
"It was terrible, it was awful, I was
devastated by it. I couldn't believe that somebody would do something like
this to such a sweet young little girl. I was really saddened by it. There
aren't
even words to express how I feel about it"
Anonymous woman
"I felt that the more support the family has,
the mom and the dad and all the relatives, the better it would be for them.I
just wanted to come and give my support to the family and the friends who
knew her"
Anonymous man
"I just felt obligated to come today. I'm on
vacation. But we felt that instead of going to Universal Studios, it was
better to come to Samantha's service"
Anonymous man
Samantha's celebretion of life program had a picture
that she had drawn on the front of it. A slide show was shown and some
of Samantha's favorite songs were played, "When Ever I Feel Afraid" was
one of them. Also sung, by Vera Darling was "Cielito Lindo", which was
a name Erin called Samantha. Some people arrived late and were
not able to get into one of the 3,000 available
seats, they stood up to watch the ceremony.
Read
a transcript of the 911 caller who found Samantha's body.
Read
about Samantha's funeral.
Read
news articles related to Samantha's death.
Return
To Samantha's Story
For information about preventing child abuse in California
click below. If they can't help you, ask for someone who can. NEVER
give up looking for help for an abused child!
Call this number
to report child abuse ANY WHERE in the United States!
1-800-4-A-Child 
1-800-422-4453
   
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My sincerest appreciation goes out to
Diane Trembly for allowing me to use one
of her beautiful Angels to make the graphics
for this set. Please visit her site,
by clicking the link below, to see all
of her amazing work.
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