Members of the Castle Heights community gathered in a local park, Thursday night, to honor three-year-old Rayven Shields.
Family, friends, clergy, and police gathered to celebrate the young girl’s life through prayer and song.
Candles were lit and balloons, adorned with Rayven’s name, were sent flying into a darkening night sky. Those in attendance wore pink ribbons in Rayven’s honor.
Bryan Police are still working to confirm if the body of a child, found behind the home Rayven shared with her mother and her mother’s boyfriend, is in fact hers. Family members, however, tell us they’re certain the body belongs to Rayven.
“We’re not able to have a funeral for her,” said Carolyn Nickols, the vigil’s organizer and Rayven’s aunt, referring to the current state of the body. “This is also a memorial.”
The memorial service was not just a celebration of Rayven’s life, but an event geared at pulling the Castle heights community closer together.
“We have peace,” said Nickols. “No I want the community to have peace.”
Rayven’s mother, Virginia Adams, was arrested two weeks ago for lying to police about her daughter’s whereabouts. No arrests have yet been made in connection with Rayven’s disappearance but police said the case is currently a murder investigation.