Hundreds of people gather for a vigil in honor of 12-year-old Jocelyn Nungaray, who was murdered and found in a north Houston creek.

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — Hundreds of people gathered Friday evening for a vigil in memory of Jocelyn Nungaray, the young girl who was murdered and then dumped in a north Houston creek.

Among those in attendance were Jocelyn’s family, Mayor John Whitmire, HPD Acting Chief Larry Satterwhite, Jim “Mattress Mack” McIngvale and some of his friends.

“Jocelyn, she was a really good friend and she always made everyone feel included,” Olivia Stevens said.

A group of five girls came from Conroe with their parents. They were all classmates at Gordan-Reed Elementary School with Jocelyn until last March, when she moved north to Houston.

The girls shared videos and photos, the kind that fill many preteen phones.

By Friday night, the laughter and crazy dancing had disappeared.

“It’s like multiple emotions. It’s like anger. It’s sadness. It’s everything, and it’s just heartbreaking,” Abby Bohanon said. “It’s just hard to understand. It’s hard to believe that such a sweet little girl is, yeah. So, it’s hard to believe and it’s upsetting.”

Emotions are difficult to manage.

“Just to be there for her,” said Catherine Musoni before bursting into tears.

They are all only 12 years old.

“It’s because we’re all so young and no one should have to go through something like this,” Bohanon added.

“It’s just crazy. It’s hard to understand,” Sophia Johnson said.

The girls said Jocelyn shared her dreams with them.

“She was always positive and always had a smile on her face, and her smile was so contagious,” Belen Pereira said.

Summer should be carefree at their age. They said 7th grade would be even harder knowing Jocelyn was gone.

“We are praying for her and her family and we just want to support them,” Stevens said.

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