00:00Scores of family and friends, many dressed in pink, gathered at St. Patrick's
00:05R.C. Church in Port of Spain to say their final goodbye to nine-year-old Jelena
00:10McKayla Armstrong. As her pink casket adorned with photos and balloons was
00:16wheeled into the R.C. Church, her schoolmates from Newtown Girls R.C.
00:20Drama Group paid a tribute with a heartfelt monologue.
00:30Always blue, and you were always excited for your next-time costume, for raving your Easter
00:39bonnets and beautiful dresses was a sight to see you were one of the businesses.
00:48Though only nine years old, Jelena seemed to have made a lasting impact on everyone she
00:54encountered.
00:55Jelena Armstrong, a girl who was far too big for this world. We realized that stars
01:04like her don't just glow, they illuminate everything around them. Because to know J was to know
01:10her personality that was as big as her heart. She was the perfect mix of everything kind,
01:18deeply loving, and as many of you know, she was wonderfully sussy, but never rude. Whether
01:26you knew her from the screen, a pageant, on the road for Carnival, or simply coming to
01:33the saloon, we are all here today because that nine-year-old little sweetheart made our
01:42life so much better.
01:44During the sermon, the priest encouraged those gathered to reflect on change.
01:49Be the change that you want to be. Let me use a secular reference. Be the change that
01:55you want to be. Be the change that you want to see in society. But the difference is that
02:01you're doing it in the name of Jesus Christ.
02:03Today, we entrust her back to God, into the hands where she already is, into the peace that this world
02:13could not give, into the light that no darkness can overcome.
02:20The funeral service underscored the broad impact Jelena had on those around her, with tributes
02:25consistently focusing on her personality, talents, and involvement in a wide range of activities
02:31despite her age. And in true Jelena fashion, following the ceremony, a procession made its
02:37way to the cemetery. Jelena was shot and killed while in a vehicle on the Lady Young Road, after
02:42returning home with her family from Harry's Water Park. Charlotte Histo, TV6 News.
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