GLENSIDE, Pa. (AP) - The Latest on the life of a teenage girl who authorities say was killed and dismembered by her adoptive mother and the mother’s boyfriend (all times local):
5:40 p.m.
Friends of the 14-year-old girl allegedly killed by her adoptive mother and the woman’s boyfriend say the girl’s complaints had sounded like typical mother-daughter conflict.
Hundreds of people turned out Monday to attend a memorial service for Grace Packer. The service was organized by school parents in suburban Philadelphia.
Friends from Abington Junior High School say Grace had been excited to get her first phone at the end of ninth grade last June. She was killed a few weeks later.
The classmates say Grace sometimes went hungry and thought her adoptive mother didn’t like her. Sara Packer and boyfriend Jacob Sullivan were charged this month with rape and murder in Grace’s death.
Community members plan to start a foundation in Grace’s name to help foster children in need. Packer had also fostered 30 children over a 10-year span.
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3:25 p.m.
Hundreds of people near Philadelphia have gathered to remember a slain teen as a kind-hearted girl who looked out for classmates at school.
A memorial for 14-year-old Grace Packer was held Monday at a Glenside church as her adoptive mother and the mother’s boyfriend sit in jail on rape and murder charges.
Friends from Abington Junior High say Grace would give them hugs or help them with math homework.
They say she seemed hungry at times and didn’t think her adoptive mother liked her.
Police say Sara Packer and Jacob Sullivan tortured and killed Grace last year and hid her body.
Organizers are raising money for a foundation to assist foster children in need. They may call it “On Gracie’s Wings,” in a nod to Grace’s love of butterflies.
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2:40 p.m.
A community near Philadelphia is gathering to celebrate the life of a 14-year-old girl who authorities say was killed and dismembered by her adoptive mother and the mother’s boyfriend.
School parents describe Grace Packer as a bubbly teen who looked out for lonely classmates at Abington Junior High School. A vigil for Grace is being held Monday afternoon.
Organizer Andrea Green-Adams and others are also raising money to start a foundation to assist foster children in need. They are tentatively calling it “On Gracie’s Wings” in a nod to Grace’s love of butterflies.
Sara Packer and Jacob Sullivan are in custody awaiting a preliminary hearing Friday in Grace’s death.
Authorities say they killed Grace as part of a “rape-murder fantasy.” Sullivan has said he’s sorry for what he did.
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