Her death has devastated the school, which has had grief counselors in the building all week.

At the service, teachers and students sat behind her family, who tried to focus on Peters’ wide smile and the impact she’d made on children during her life. There was little mention of the family’s desire for justice after her violent death. Her mother, Lacey Peters, wanted the service to be a celebration of life.

“I wanted to come here and say, ‘How dare you! How dare you!” said Sheryle Peters, a great aunt. But instead, she asked those attending the funeral to “live just a little bit of what she has accomplished in this room today.”

Peters began working for St. Louis Public Schools in 2011 as a positive behavior support specialist at Fanning Middle School.

Four years ago, she applied for a teaching job at Mann Elementary, a struggling neighborhood school south of Tower Grove Park. Principal Nicole Conaway said that Peters was so impressive during the interview that she offered her a job 15 minutes after the interview started.

“She was a natural in the classroom, creating an environment where children took charge of their learning,” Conaway told mourners. “She had high expectations for herself and for her students.