A nine-year-old girl shot to death by transgender killer Audrey Hale was remembered as a “beacon of light” during her pink and green themed funeral on Friday.
The Evelyn Dieckhaus memorial marked the first to take place for the six victims of Hale’s deadly attack on the Covenant school in Nashville.
It comes after it was revealed that Evelyn was shot while heroically trying to pull the fire alarm in an attempt to thwart Hale’s mission.
Mourners were photographed arriving at the girl’s funeral dressed in pink and green to pay tribute to her ‘light and love of colour’ as children carried stuffed animals.
Senior Pastor Clay Stauffer told them, ‘Evelyn could have been anything. But she chose to be a beacon of light and hope, love and joy to those around her. She was an amazing girl.
Evelyn Dieckhaus was remembered as a “beacon of light” during her pink and green themed funeral on Friday.
Mourners dressed in pink and green to pay tribute to Evelyn’s ‘light and love of colour’
Others brought stuffed animals to the service at Woodmount Christian Church, less than three miles from the attack site.
A photo of Evelyn wearing a bright pink headband was used on service shows, while one obituary described her as “strong but never pushy”, adding that she had “a poise beyond the years”.
“This girl could read a room,” the obituary read.
“It was clear to everyone who knew her that Evelyn Dieckhaus knew who she was.
“She understood where she would fit into any given scene and always where she was needed.”
The statement also paid tribute to her ‘infectious laugh’ and ‘angelic’ voice which she used to sing alongside Taylor Swift.
The service was held at Woodmount Christian Church, less than three miles from the site of the attack.
Evelyn was shot along with her schoolmates Hallie Scruggs and William Kinney, all nine years old.
School principal Katherine Koonce, 60, substitute teacher Cynthia Peak, 61, and school janitor Mike Hill, 61, were also killed in the attack.
Services for Hallie and Peak are expected to take place on Saturday.
Evelyn was described as a “hero” after the attack after it emerged that she was trying to pull the fire alarm to save her classmates from Hale’s attack when she was shot.
An obituary for Evelyn described her as “strong but never aggressive”, adding that she had “a pose beyond the years”. She added that she had an ‘infectious laugh’ and an ‘angelic’ voice.
A photo of Evelyn with her family was also included in the service brochure.
Her aunt Kelly Dorrance said she believed Evelyn was leading a line of children in what she believed to be a fire drill.
“We are discovering that the shooter may have pulled the fire alarm to remove the children from their classroom,” Dorrance said in a private Instagram post.
‘Evelyn, being one of the class leaders, was at the front of the line taking on the fire drill.
“She was trying to get her classmates to safety and possibly didn’t hear their yelling for them to come back into the room. Things kids should never worry about.
There are still questions about what possessed Hale, who was born a woman but reportedly lived as a man, to open fire on her old school.
She arrived armed with two rifles and a pistol and had apparently planned the attack in detail.
She was shot to death at the scene by law enforcement officers.
It is understood that he was at odds with his devout Christian parents because they “could not accept” that he was gay and transgender.
Church coordinator Norma, 61, and her husband Ronald, 64, refused to allow Hale, who had recently adopted the name Aiden and used he/he pronouns, to dress as a man in their home.
The Evelyn Dieckhaus memorial marked the first to take place of the six victims of Hale’s deadly rampage.
Services for Hallie Scruggs and Cynthia Peak are expected to take place on Saturday.
Evelyn was described as a “hero” after the attack after it emerged that she was trying to pull the fire alarm to save her classmates from Hale’s attack when she was shot.
There are still questions about what possessed Hale, who was born a woman but reportedly lived as a man, to open fire on her old school.
The reclusive 28-year-old would wait until leaving her $700,000 Nashville estate to change her clothes, a well-placed source told Dailymail.com.
A chilling 911 call made by a friend of Hale’s at the time of the shooting was made public Thursday.
Averianna Patton received several disturbing messages from Audrey Hale, 28, on Instagram shortly before she began spraying bullets inside the Covenant School.
Hale sent the messages at 9:57 a.m. and had killed his victims by 10:10 a.m.
After receiving a particular message from Hale that read, “I’m planning to die today, you’ll probably hear about me on the news,” Patton called a suicide hotline, which then encouraged her to contact authorities to alert them to the situation. . .
She shot and killed three students, 9, and three staff members at 10:10 a.m.
In his 911 call around 10:12 a.m., when armed officers had already arrived on the scene, he said, “I’m just trying to see if anyone can help.” I just don’t want it on my conscience.
“If anyone can go see her, all I have is her Instagram. Can I give you her Instagram so they can find or track her that way?
In separate 911 calls made from inside the school, a teacher inside the classroom could be heard saying, “We think we heard gunshots.”
Students can be heard crying over the sound of the fire alarm and distant gunshots as one boy added: ‘I want to go home.’