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Hundreds of people packed into Faith Missionary Baptist Church in Capitol Heights on Tuesday to celebrate the life of LaVonda King, the youngest victim of the June 22 Metro crash that killed nine people.
The turnout was so large at the Capitol Heights church that police had to block off a nearby intersection and direct drivers toward other parking lots. Late arrivals were ushered into a separate space after the main room filled up.
King's body lay in a white coffin at the front of the room. Behind her, a large choir and a drummer played upbeat music celebrating the life of the 23-year-old Washington, D.C., resident who was the mother of two children. King started her own Forestville hair salon on June 19.
"I'm going to lay my burden down, down by the riverside, down by the riverside," the choir sang. "I'm going to lay my burden down, down by the riverside, down by the riverside."
Many people in the audience clapped to the music or stood up in their seats and swayed. Others stayed seated, mouthing the words silently and fanning themselves with programs.
Brown spoke again and recalled a recent evening when he met King for the first time. He said King's sisters were arguing with her mother — until King walked in.
"LaVonda came in and got in the middle, and all she did was smile," Brown said. "And she looked at me, and I looked at her. And it seemed to me there was a kind of calm that came in the midst there."
Many of the people who gave eulogies remembered King as someone with a nice smile and friendly personality who was determined to get what she wanted in life.
"Nikki had a strong backbone with a kind heart, an attractive personality," said friend Tanisha Tucker, a Largo resident. "And she was always so funny… Nikki had a fearless attitude, and she was a go-getter."
Cassandra Cunningham, King's aunt, had similar memories.
She remembered when King was in third grade and hounded her relatives so she could collect enough money to be "queen of the class," and when she got homesick when she was a student at Wilberforce University in Ohio and snuck onto a Greyhound bus to the District.
"She opened our eyes," Cunningham said. "Now she's gone. But we will never forget her, because she was one of the greatest out of all we ever met. We will love you. We will miss you…"
Cunningham trailed off, and after a moment the crowd burst into applause. Then the choir started singing again.
"I sing because I'm happy," they sang. "I sing because I'm happy. His eyes are on the sparrow, and I know he watches over me."
Janet Jameson, one of King's aunts, walked to the lectern and read a letter from Tawanda Brown, King's mother, who lives in Upper Marlboro.
"I promise to live each day as if it's my last day, and I promise not to grieve forever, because I know you're in a better place," read Jameson, of Union, N.J. "I promise to stand my ground with your sisters, [because] this time you're not caught in the middle."
In the letter, Tawanda Brown also promised to keep going on trips to the places she went to with her daughter and to raise King's two children — Andre, 3, and Emmanuel Jose, 2 — to be as strong as their mother.
"I can't promise not to cry," Jameson read.
After the service, Rhonda Reddick, a Capitol Heights resident who went to Largo High School with King, said she liked the ceremony. Reddick said she saw King just a couple of weeks ago when they were both riding on the Metro.
"Every day's not granted," Reddick said. "She was just starting. She was just starting her life."
Darlene Nelson-Broadhurst, one of King's cousins, said she appreciated a chance to pay her final respects.
"Nikki reminded me of my own daughter," who died recently in a traffic accident, Nelson-Broadhurst said. "And that smile — to me, she still had that smile."
Nelson-Broadhurst said she still misses King, but she said she felt like the funeral service was a chance to say goodbye properly.
"I know she's gone home," she said. "It's truly a celebration."
E-mail Greg Holzheimer at gholzheimer@gazette.net.
