By Steve Alexander Reporter
.
Published: Wed, November 19, 2008 - 10:47 pm
Last Updated: Wed, November 19, 2008 - 11:05 pm
Steve Alexander
While reflecting on the past, Brianna Parish's loved ones are now looking to the future with one specific aim in mind.
The celebration of Parish's life lasted several hours at the Bay Community Church.
Brianna's sister, Miranda Parish, said, "A few of us like myself dressed like her. She always wanted to dress me up."
Her friend of nine years, Lauren Smith, travelled to Daphne from New York City.
She wore what she called a "bling" dress to the service in honor of Brianna's ice skating video on her My Space page.
Smith said, "I wanted to give Bri a really big laugh. I wanted my last moments with her to still be good."
Smith said Brianna visited her in New York and just returned two weeks ago.
That visit would be the last time they would see each other.
Smith said Brianna told her, "If anything were ever to happen with you, I don't know what I would do with myself and I said, 'Bri, I can't even describe to you in words if anything would ever happen to you, I don't know if I could go on.' And we just sat there and hugged."
Miranda Parish said the family will concentrate on making sure her killer is brought to justice.
She said, "We're just focused on getting down into this death investigation and not letting the police or anyone else slack off."
Brianna's friends said the same thing.
Katherine Robinson said, "Daphne Police, please find the killer."
Cary Jordan said, "It's imperative they find the killer."
Brianna's parents live in southeast Texas in a FEMA trailer after their home was that heavily damaged from Hurricane Ike.
But Miranda said, "They are staying as long as they possibly can, definitely until right after Thanksgiving, possibly until Christmas. My father's job is very supportive and my mom, of course, is not leaving her other two girls any time soon."
If you have any information on the death of Brianna Parish, you can call the Daphne Police Department at 621-9100.
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My sympathy and prayers go out to Bri’s family. The Daphne police were extremely insensitive to make a blanket statement regarding a possible drug connection without having facts, or a suspect in custody, to give credence to those statements. Having been through a similar set of circumstances when my daughter was murdered in Florida in ‘96, with the police classifying it as an accident, I can only advise the family to continue to focus on her life and the joy that she apparently brought to so many people.