On Sunday night at Clark College, about 150 friends, family members and others touched by the life and death of Nikki Kuhnhausen shared tears, hugs and an outpouring of funny and tender stories in a celebration of her life.

Nikki, a 17-year-old transgender girl, was slain in June, and her accused killer, David Y. Bogdanov, is being held on $750,000 bail and facing a second-degree murder charge and malicious harassment, a hate crime. But his name wasn’t mentioned at the gathering of those who loved the teenager; instead, they told tales of a bright, compassionate and feisty daughter, sister and friend.

“The one thing I hope everyone can take away from this is to be yourself,” Nikki’s brother Conrad said of her spirit. “Be who you were made to be. Don’t give up.”

Nikki’s mother, Lisa Kuhnhausen-Woods, described a close, tight-knit relationship with her daughter. Nikki’s last words to her were, “I love you mommy, we’ll talk tomorrow,” she said.

“She had so much love for all of you,” Kuhnhausen-Woods told the crowd. “I’m not ready to accept that she’s gone forever, so I really can’t talk about her in the past tense yet.”