Family, community, Virginia Tech mourn death of teen
Family, friends, a college town and a major university will mourn Thursday when courageous 13-year-old Nicole Lovell is laid to rest in Blacksburg, Va.
Lovell, who survived a liver transplant at 10 months and non-Hodgkins lymphoma less than four years later, was fatally stabbed last week. Two Virginia Tech students face charges in her death — a death that has rocked the town of 40,000 residents and the 30,000-student university.
Tech student Emily Sutherland says the tragedy has brought pain to the community of "Hokies," the nickname students wear with pride.
"Right now there is a lot of confusion and sadness," Sutherland told Paste BN. "Confusion at how someone who was supposed to be a Hokie could commit (a crime) so heinous as this, and an overarching sadness that we lost a young girl."
School President Tim Sands issued a statement on behalf of the campus community saying "our hearts go out to Nicole’s family and friends." Blacksburg Mayor Ron Rordam also extended condolences and noted that "on occasion the town and the Virginia Tech community have suffered inexplicable tragedies."
Nicole's mother, Tammy Weeks, spoke about her daughter at an emotional press conference this week: Nicole's favorite color was blue, she loved dancing and pandas. She wanted to perform on American Idol some day.
"Nicole was a very lovable person," Weeks said through tears. "Nicole touch many people throughout her short life."
Weeks was unable to finish reading her statement, so a family friend stepped in: “Our hearts still ache with sadness and secret tears still flow. What it meant to lose you no one will ever know.”
Nicole disappeared Jan. 27. Her body was found three days later in rural North Carolina, almost 100 miles from her Blacksburg home. Montgomery County, Va., Commonwealth's Attorney Mary Pettitt said preliminary autopsy evidence indicates Nicole was stabbed the same day she disappeared.
David Eisenhauer, a freshman engineering major and member of the cross-country team, is charged with abduction and murder. Natalie Keepers, 19, a sophomore engineering major, is charged with being an accessory before the fact in the murder, illegally disposing of a body and accessory after the fact.
Both were being held without bail. Both could face life in prison if convicted.
Blacksburg Police Lt. Mike Albert has said Eisenhauer, 18, "used his relationship to his advantage to abduct... and kill" Nicole. Family members say Nicole left the house through a window and she apparently met Eisenhauer online.
Sutherland, a philosophy major, said the tragedy has more students walking around in groups and looking out for each other. But she says she feels safe on campus and in town.
"We are a community, not just the school, but the entire town," Sutherland said. "We will come together and we will prevail."