A little girl whose murder united a city and caught the attention of a nation was remembered at a memorial service today for a spirited life full of humanity.
Maria Chavez, 41, sobbed silently as photos of her 8-year-old daughter Sandra Cantu flashed onscreen.
Her two surviving daughters — Simone, 11, and Miranda Chavez, 20 — hugged her on either side, leaning their heads on her shoulders.
Her son, 15-year-old Thomas Fortin, wiped away tears on his T-shirt.
The family of the slain Tracy girl joined 4,500 others at West High School to mourn the loss of the Jacobsen Elementary School second-grader. Farmworkers on April 6 found the girl’s tiny body in a suitcase north of town, 10 days after her rape and murder.
She wore the same Hello Kitty T-shirt and Hannah Montana flip-flops she had on when she went missing. Police said she was killed just hours after video footage shows her skipping past her mobile home.
“I didn’t understand it when I was a police officer,” said a tearful Tracy City Councilman Steve Abercrombie of the violence that led to Sandra’s death. “And as a father of four children, I still don’t understand it.”
Hundreds of others among the 2,700 packed in the West High gym cried with him. Outside, where thousands watched onscreen or heard over sound piped into the football field, many more wept. Parents held their children close. Strangers cried for the little girl few met but so many will remember.
Sandra’s aunt Angie Chavez read a poem about her niece. In it she remembered the girl’s bright smile, her “sun-kissed hair” and the hugs she gave to her mom before bedtime.
Maria Chavez sobbed and grabbed her daughter Simone’s knee, caressing it.
Sandra’s uncle Joe Chavez closed his eyes, bloodshot from crying.
TV news cameras streamed footage of the emotional memorial service to the nation — the largest gathering in Tracy history.
Sen. Barbara Boxer and California Attorney General Jerry Brown joined Tracy Mayor Brent Ives and Tracy police Chief Janet Thiessen for the afternoon service today. Thousands lined up as early as 10 a.m. from the high school to Corral Hollow Road to secure a seat.
Organizers had little idea of how many people would show up, but they planned for a huge crowd.
The story that started on March 27 as one about a missing girl 10 days later transformed into that of a grisly murder that’s gripped the nation. When police on April 10 arrested 28-year-old single mom and volunteer Sunday school teacher Melissa Huckaby, the story only heightened the interest.
A day after family buried little Sandra in a pink casket during a private funeral, they stepped out again to grieve in public. Thousands from Tracy and from all over Northern California joined them.
"I think it helps the family a lot, showing how much support they have." Nichol Meritt, 18, of Stockton.
Meritt and her friend, Elizabeth Mustain, 20, from Manteca, watched the service from the gym. Both of them had pink shirts with Sandra's picture on it. They said they were friends of the family.
Sandra’s principal from Jacobson Elementary School, Cindy Sasser, said her students will remember the girl as a caring, playful and friendly classmate.
Sasser fought back tears when she told the audience about how Sandra taught other students how to play on the monkey bars. The spirited little girl used to hang out with disabled kids at her school. She made friends quickly and would ask Sasser and other teachers if they needed help.
Adilene Delgado, 8, went to school with Sandra. She said seeing her friend’s smiling face on the screen today made her remember the times they played together.
One time, Sandra walked up to Adilene and her friend who wore a Hello Kitty necklace. Sandra had the same one. Thrilled by the discovery, they started talking and became good friends.
“I used to see her all the time at school,” Adilene said. “She’d play with her friends and she’d always make new friends. When I saw her photos, I remembered how small she was and how kind.”
A slideshow of little Sandra projected photos that showed her opening birthday presents. In another, she read a Hello Kitty greeting card.
“She loved everything girly and pink,” her principal Sasser said.
Sandra’s grandma Dolores Chavez clasped the printed program — a picture of the girl on the front — to her chest. Her face crinkled. She closed her eyes. She wept.
Her husband José Chavez placed his arm around her shoulder.
Across the aisle, Sandra’s estranged father Daniel Cantu, 37, nodded his head at the uplifting words from the speakers. He cried, too. Estranged from Maria Chavez, he barely knew his daughter. When news of her disappearance reached him in Southern California, he showed up in Tracy to join the search.
With the hunt ended, Sandra’s body found and hopes shattered that morning April 6, the father was left to mourn with his family and friends in Tracy, where he grew up. Sandra’s maternal relatives cut off all contact with him years ago and chose to keep their distance despite the little girl’s death.
After the service, both families shuffled into separate rooms for refreshments.
A shrine to Sandra complete with plush toys and flowers decorated the podium at the West High gym. A harpist played slow, sad music as the crowd of thousands streamed out.
Tracy’s angel, Tracy adopted child, Tracy’s lost girl — that’s how many will remember her, Mayor Ives said.
“We’re left with the haunting image of her skipping down the streets of Tracy,” he said. “But today she’s skipping down on streets of gold.”
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