By LEANDRA ROLLE

Tribune Chief Reporter

lrolle@tribunemedia.net

THE family of murdered student Adriel Moxey has launched a GoFundMe campaign to raise $15,000 for her funeral expenses, despite offers from some to cover some costs free of charge.

Adriel’s mother, Sasha Moxey, who has schizophrenia, told The Tribune yesterday that the family does not want “free help”, fearing the quality of the work might not meet their expectations.

“Everybody coming to me about they could do it for free,” she said. “I don’t need nobody doing it for free and they ramshack the whole thing. It’s so many people, you don’t know who to trust, so I’m only trusting who I know.”

She explained that Memories Funeral Homes would be handling Adriel’s burial, but funds raised through GoFundMe would help cover other related expenses.

“The GoFundMe is actually to help the family,” she said. “We can use help with certain things like the repast, and if we could do a wake, stuff like that we will need help with.”

Adriel, 12, a seventh-grade student at Anatol Rodgers High School, was found dead in bushes near Faith Avenue South last Wednesday, a day after she was reported missing. 

Police said she was wearing only a shirt, with a cloth tied around her neck.

In a statement on the GoFundMe page, the family described Adriel as a person “filled with so much potential, love and laughter” whose life was cut too short.

“As we navigate the profound pain of this loss, we want to honour Adriel with the beautiful farewell she deserves,” the post said.

The family said all proceeds would go directly towards funeral service costs and memorial arrangements “to honour her spirit and keep her memory alive.”

Their plea for assistance comes after offers from some morticians to bury Adriel free of charge.

Denalee Penn-Mackey, a certified funeral director and owner of Evergreen Mortuary, said she had contacted the family and is awaiting a response.

“As I stated earlier, in incidents like the one involving little Adriel, there is simply no room for photo ops or grandstanding,” she wrote in a Facebook post.

“I have offered myself and the services of Evergreen Mortuary in a random act of kindness, through giving this little angel a fitting farewell free of cost as she leaves this broken world to rest forever safely in the Master’s care.”

When asked about the offer, Ms Moxey confirmed that Mrs Penn had contacted her, but said she had chosen someone closer to home.

“The people who doing Adriel’s ceremony, they’re closer to home than anyone else who approached me,” she said. “The owner of that place used to be my neighbour, and she promised me that she would do a good job with Adriel, so I put it in her hands.”

Police had taken a 32-year-old man into custody in connection with Adriel’s death.

The suspect, described as a person of interest, was arrested in the Cowpen Road area last week.