Death of Jorelys Rivera | Family, friends remember slain girl

By Alexis Stevens

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

One picture shows the toothy-faced grin and curls of a happy 7-year-old and another is a recent school picture of the first-grader. The third picture is from kindergarten graduation, showing Jorelys Rivera in a cap and gown.

The tiny photos, framed in metal frames, are now tied with ribbons onto safety pins. And they're attached to the shirts and blouses of the girl's family members. As relatives gathered at the Rivera family's apartment Tuesday night, some used the time to remember the little girl found dead after disappearing last week.

"We used three different pictures to capture her different personalities," Laura Jennings, a relative, told the AJC.

Jorelys, who attended Canton Elementary School, was a bubbly girl with a sweet personality who loved to write letters to her mother and teacher, according to those who knew her best.

"I love you mom and I want a dog," her aunt, Rosa Soto-Torres, said Jorelys recently wrote in a note.

And though she was only 7, Jorelys never went anywhere without her purse, Soto-Torres said.

"She would steal my nail polish when she was in my home," Soto-Torres said, just outside the Riveras' apartment. "And she loved makeup, eye shadow, anything."

As family members planned a funeral for Jorelys, neighbors and others in the community had one question that remained unanswered: Who killed Jorelys Rivera?

Details released Tuesday morning by the GBI portrayed a gruesome killing, likely committed by someone living in the River Ridge apartment complex or there regularly. Jorelys, who disappeared after leaving the playground at 5 p.m. Friday, was sexually assaulted, beaten and stabbed before being put in a trash bin, according to Vernon Keenan, GBI director.

By late Tuesday, investigators had not released the names of any suspects in the girl's death, but were working on the investigation around the clock, according to Lt. Jay Baker with the Cherokee County Sheriff's Office.

Those living in the complex told the AJC they're fearful, and some are even speculating on who the killer could be.

"We want justice," Lorenza Pettway, a resident of the River Ridge complex, told the AJC Tuesday.

The Rivera family has not spoken publicly since investigators announced the body of Jorelys had been found. As a group, family members walked across the street from the apartment to the playground, where a memorial to Jorelys continued to grow Tuesday night. The little girl's mother wept as she stared at the memorial to her oldest of three daughters.

Corie Marvin, 26, doesn't know the Rivera family or live in the same apartment complex, but she works at a nearby restaurant and said she watched over the weekend as searchers looked for Jorelys.

Marvin couldn't hold back tears as she stood on the playground next to the memorial for the girl. She placed a sign that read "You will never be forgotten" among the pile of flowers, stuffed animals and candles on the ground near the slide.

"I've never had anything like this happen so close to me," Marvin said. "It really hit home. She deserved so much more than this.

"It's scary for everybody. You're looking at everyone out of the corner of your eye saying, ‘Do I really know you?' "

Tuesday night, family members made arrangements to bury Jorelys in Puerto Rico, where the family is from.

A public viewing is planned for Friday from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. at Darby Funeral Home in Canton, relatives told Channel 2 Action News. A public funeral will be held Saturday at the funeral home at noon. The family plans a private memorial this weekend before the girl's remains are flown to Puerto Rico.