In Pictures: Canton Celebrates Jorelys Rivera

The celebration of life was accompanied by heart-stirring speeches and music from Canton's residents.

Photographs, song and the spoken word were used to remember and celebrate the life of Jorelys Rivera on the one year anniversary of the grisly murder that shook Canton to its very core. Those assembled at the Pruett YMCA building in Canton Sunday night chose to remember not how the seven-year-old died, but how she lived. Remembered as a beautiful vivacious girl who loved life, Jorelys was memorialized in a sermon by Mt. Zion Church's Pastor Eloisa Gonzalez. "God is preparing a banquet for us when we die," Gonzalez said. "And I know when it is time for my banquet, Jorelys will be sitting right next to me." Jorelys' mother Josilenne Rivera told Gonzalez that Jorelys came to her in a dream as a butterfly. Gonzalez interpreted the dream as …

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Vigil for Jorelys Rivera to be Held Sunday

The one year anniversary of the 7-year-old's murder will be marked with "a celebration of life."

Vigil for Jorelys Rivera to be Held Sunday

The one year anniversary of the 7-year-old's murder will be marked with "a celebration of life."

A candlelight vigil will be held on Sunday to mark the one year anniversary of the brutal murder of a seven-year-old Canton girl. Canton Elementary School student Jorelys Rivera was abducted and killed by maintenance worker Ryan Brunn in her apartment complex on Dec. 2, 2011. Brunn pleaded guilty to the murder and hanged himself in his jail cell shortly after receiving a life sentence for the crime. The vigil, however, will focus on the memory of Jorelys as a happy, loving young girl with the world at her feet. “The theme is going to be a celebration of life,” Bianca Cummings, local child safety advocate and organizer of the vigil said to The Marietta Daily Journal.  According to Cummings, Jorelys' mother Joselinne Rivera-Ruiz asked her to…

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