ORANGE PARK, Fla. — Dozens gathered Sunday night to remember the life of a 7-year-old girl.
Somer Thompson would have been 17 years old this year, but her life was cut short when she was abducted 10 years ago.
It's a case that rocked the First Coast. Somer Thompson was walking home from school on Oct. 19, 2009, in Orange Park.
She was then lured into a home on Gano Avenue where she was killed. Her body was found two days later in a landfill.
The house where she was killed was eventually burned down and transformed into a shrine called Somer's Garden.
"It's bittersweet," Diena Thompson, Somer Thompson's mother said. "It's sweet but it's sour because this is where my child lost her life on Oct. 19 and it'll always be that place for me. At least I know that no one can offend against children in this spot again."
Diena Thompson was overwhelmed with the community's support.
The same people who helped find her daughter 10 years ago were standing by Diena Thompson's side again a decade later.
Diena Thompson says she still finds strength through Somer.
It's in her daughter's memory that she has created Darkness to Light Stewards of Children, a scholarship fund to protect children from child abuse.
Diena Thompson also supports the Monique Burr Foundation for Children, which was created to protect children from bullying, cyberbullying and abuse.
"If I was in heaven, I wouldn't want to look down and see my babies upset," she said. "I want them living life to the fullest and hopefully doing things in memory of me.”
She says that's how she chooses to live life, honoring her sunshine and thanking all of those who stood by her side.
“I applaud everyone," she said. "Although she didn't come home the way I would've wanted her to, she got to come home and I know the answers.”
Diena Thompson credits the police work and tips that lead to the arrest of her daughter's killer, Jarred Harrell. He's currently serving six life sentences in prison.
Click through the gallery below for a look back on how the disappearance and murder of Somer Thompson gripped the Orange Park community.
The full gallery can be viewed on The Florida Times-Union website.
