Thousands turned out for Thursday's memorial service for Sandra Cantu, 8, who was murdered and raped by Sunday School teacher Melissa Huckaby, 28.
About 2,600 mourners filled the West High School gymnasium in Tracy, with another 500 people in an overflow room with video of the service and audio piped to loudspeakers at the West High School football field, which seats 7,000 people. The service was held at 1 PM PDT.
The service was called "A Celebration of Life," and was intended to help local residents heal after weeks of national news coverage in Sandra Cantu's disappearance and slaying, as well as the arrest and charging of Melissa Huckaby.
Among the dignitaries were U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer, California Attorney General Jerry Brown, Tracy Mayor Brent Ives, and Tracy Chief of Police Janet Thiessen.
Jerry Brown said the following:
"We're a society that doesn't talk about death very often, yet each one of us will face our own at some point. ... But when a child dies ... what can we take from it? When we celebrate the life of this beautiful and wonderful child, Sandra, I would just say this. When we think about life, we have to also think about aliveness. Because this child embodied aliveness. And though we can't bring that back, we can appreciate it in each other."
Tracy City Councilman Steve Abercrombie said:
"How do we prevent this from happening again? It is important as a community to protect our children. We must all realize that they are our future, as the saying goes, it takes a village to raise a child. The challenge for us is to make that a reality. The only suggestions I have is to hug your children daily and tell them how much you love them every day. Cherish every moment you get to spend with your kids."
You can watch Barbara Boxer's comments, who said "I Stand Before You As A Mother" in the video attached to this post.
Finally, the family said donations in Sandra's memory may be sent to the Carole Sund/ Carrington Memorial Reward Foundation, 301 Downey Ave., Modesto, CA 95354.
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