Dressed in the gowns and tuxedos they had been planning to wear to their prom Friday night, some 200 students from Connecticut’s Johnathan Law High School gathered on a beach to say goodbye to their classmate who was stabbed to death earlier today.
According to witness accounts, 16-year-old Maren Sanchez had her throat slashed in a school stairwell for allegedly refusing to go to the junior prom with a male friend.
The dance, which was scheduled to take place at 7pm on Friday night at Vazzano's Four Seasons banquet hall in Stratford, was postponed after Sanchez's brutal slaying.
The Jonathan Law Advocate reported that the school will still be naming Maren prom queen - a decision that had been made before her tragic passing.
‘She had the prom queen type of personality. I just felt she deserved it,’ senior Crystal Johnson told the New Haven Register.
At Walnut Beach Friday night, grieving friends and classmates released purple, star-shaped balloons into the sky and cried out, ' Love you, Maren.'
One student carried Sanchez's green prom dress, which she had been so excited to wear to the party.
Earlier in the day, students at Johnathan Law High School in Milford gathered outdoors for an impromptu memorial
They stood in groups, some carrying flowers and sobbing, and embraced one another for support.
Several students decided to spray-paint a large rock standing outside the school building purple – Maren’s favorite color - with her name, date of birth and a heart scrawled in white.
On Twitter, the girl's friends made plans to come to school on Monday wearing purple in Maren's honor.
An unidentified 16-year-old boy has been charged with murder as a juvenile offender for allegedly slashing Sanchez's throat and choking her following an argument inside Jonathan Law High School at around 7.15am this morning.
The honors student was rushed to Bridgeport Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
Rebecca Golden, 17, a senior at the school, said she saw the victim lying on the floor surrounded by teachers, some of whom were crying. She said she didn't know what was going on at the time, and teachers directed her away from the victim.
Imani Langston, who describes herself as one of Sanchez's best friends, said students were gathered in an auditorium when a teacher came and told them Sanchez had been stabbed.
‘She basically just explained to us that Maren Sanchez got stabbed in the throat for saying no about going to prom’ with the suspect, she said.
Langston said she saw the suspect taken out of the school in handcuffs. She said Sanchez and the boy were friends but had never dated.She said Sanchez had helped to organize the junior prom and was looking forward to attending with her boyfriend. The dance was scheduled for Friday night but was postponed because of the stabbing.
In class on Thursday, Sanchez ‘told me about her prom dress, she told me how she got asked to prom,’ Langston said. ‘We were just laughing, talking about what we were going to do when we got there, how many pictures we were going to take.’
A cousin of Sanchez, Edward Kovac, said the family is shocked and devastated. He described her as a ‘bright light full of hopes and dreams’ as he read from a family statement and said more needs to be done to ensure young people are protected from attacks at school.
‘Maren should be celebrating at her prom this evening with her friends and classmates, instead we are mourning her death and we are trying as a community to understand this senseless loss of life,’ Kovac told NECN.
Sanchez was a member of the National Honor Society and managed of boys and girls’ swim teams.
The bubbly, multi-talented and universally liked girl was also dedicated to community service, especially causes like underage drinking and helping veterans, school officials said.
Sanchez, described by those who knew her as a gifted musician and actress, was also a member of her school's drama club and had been rehearsing for her May 2 debut as Audrey II, the large, man-eating plant in a production of ‘Little Shop of Horrors.’
Michael Mele, Sanchez’s drama instructor, recalled seeing her Thursday night at rehearsals and how excited she was about the upcoming prom and her freshly manicured nails.
‘She was talking about plans for a double-date and had such energy,’ he said, calling her the ‘epitome of a good student.’
Mele said he hopes the spring musical will premiere next weekend as scheduled because Maren, who had a real passion for the theater, would have wanted it that way.
The high school’s principal, Fran Thompson, sent a letter to parents breaking the news of Sanchez’s brutal and untimely death.
‘Maren, a junior, was everything right with Jonathan Law,’ Thompson wrote.The horrific incident unfolded early this morning when, according to New York Daily News, the alleged attacker confronted Maren, his ex-girlfriend, in the school's stairwell, armed with a kitchen knife he brought from home.
He was reportedly furious that Maren broke up with him. He allegedly threw her down the stairs and choked her before stabbing her in the neck.
According to some accounts, however, the 16-year-old girl was just friends with her suspected attacker.
'She was screaming,' a student inside the building at the time of the attack, told Daily News. 'There were students in the hallway when it happened. The kids who saw it are all a wreck.'
'There was blood on her neck. It was awful,' 16-year-old Sam Garcia, a junior at the school, told Chicago Tribune. 'I saw the girl lying on the stretcher when they took her out.'
Students were dismissed at 9am as the school went into lock down, after the alleged attacker was held down by a school resource officer and arrested by police.
According to Police Chief Keith Mello, a school staff member witnessed part of the hallway attack and tried to save Maren.
He said the teen suffered 'some severe injuries that were visible around the neck area', he but could not confirm what weapon was used, NBC Connecticut reported.
He noted that investigators have heard 'rumors' that the assault was related to a spurned prom invitation, but said is was too soon to establish a motive.
News of the shocking incident has rattled the school community, with student Sean Chester telling The Hartford Courant that Maren was a junior and the class president.
She was also an athlete and a member of the National Honor Society.
'Everything you're doing right in high school she was doing,' he said.
On Facebook, classmates described Maren as 'a sweet girl with a big heart'. They said that Maren already had a prom date - her boyfriend - when her alleged attacker asked her out.News of the shocking incident has rattled the school community, with student Sean Chester telling The Hartford Courant that Maren was a junior and the class president.
She was also an athlete and a member of the National Honor Society.
'Everything you're doing right in high school she was doing,' he said.
On Facebook, classmates described Maren as 'a sweet girl with a big heart'. They said that Maren already had a prom date - her boyfriend - when her alleged attacker asked her out.School superintendent Elizabeth Feser said the high school was 'devastated by the loss of one of our students'.
'She was a 16-year-old junior, vibrant, very involved in (Jonathan Law), an incredible contributor, someone who was respected,' Feser said.
She said counselors were available to members of the school community.
Chris Kulenych, an English and broadcast journalism teacher at Jonathan Law, said Maren was active in the school community and was often a guest on the student news television broadcast.
'She did everything - people knew her that way,' Kulenych said. 'Today was just devastating.'According to a police statement, the incident was 'isolated'.
Jonathan Law Principal Fran Thompson had reportedly sent a message to parents saying there was a physical altercation between two students at the school. She also said one student required medical attention.
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