BOSTON (AP) - Family and friends gathered at a Boston church Saturday for the funeral of a 23-year-old woman who was kidnapped and killed following an outing for her birthday at a nightclub.
Jassy Correia’s white casket was adorned with white flowers inside Saint Peter Parish in the city’s Dorchester section, along with a poster board filled with photos of Correia and her 2-year-old daughter and the words “In Loving Memory Jassy.”
Boston Mayor Marty Walsh was among the crowd at the service, which was followed by a private burial ceremony.
“We express our sadness but we must also accept the death of Jassy,” her cousin, Makeila De Andrade, said during the funeral. “I have faith and trust in God with all my heart that her death was not in vain.”
Correia, of Lynn, Massachusetts, was last seen leaving a Boston nightclub early on the morning of Feb. 24 . Her body was found four days later in a suitcase in the trunk of a car driven by a Rhode Island man during a traffic stop by Delaware police.
Louis Coleman III, 32 , of Providence, faces a felony kidnapping charge that carries the possibility of the death penalty upon conviction. His lawyer declined to comment Saturday.
Coleman decided to not fight extradition back to Massachusetts. It wasn’t clear when he will appear in court in Boston.
During the service, Correia’s father, Joaquin Correia, called her his “good child” and “my dear Jassy” as he wished her “eternal rest in paradise.” He spoke in Cape Verdean Creole in a speech translated into English by John Barros, Boston’s chief of economic development.
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