Lying in a casket at the front of the True Vine Missionary Baptist Church, the boy in a white suit looked peaceful, his hands clutching a piece of braided hard candy. A teddy bear was tucked in by his feet.
He was Terrell Mayes Jr., and he was 3 years old when he died last week. His funeral Wednesday pulled together his family, friends, civic leaders and strangers moved by his death to say goodbye to the boy known as "JuJu" and ask how it's possible he could have been killed in his north Minneapolis home by a stray bullet.
Speakers throughout the nearly two-hour service called for gang members and thugs to change their ways so that no more Terrells die. The messages brought people to their feet, clapping and shouting praise. Some spoke about the boy they knew as an energetic kid who played football in the front yard and tried to ride on the back of his parents' pit bull.
Terrell died early Dec. 27, hours after being struck in the head by a stray bullet that entered his Hawthorne neighborhood home. He and his brothers had heard gunfire on the street and were running to an upstairs closet for safety. Whoever fired the shot hasn't been caught.
"When I heard that he got shot, my heart just broke in half," a boy named Matthew told those gathered in the pews. "I really hope he's going to have a good time wherever he's going."
Gov. Mark Dayton consoled the Mayes family on behalf of all Minnesotans, saying Terrell's death left him asking God for answers.
"I've never seen someone that small in a casket before," Minneapolis Police Chief Tim Dolan said.
Grandfather Christopher Neal said he would never forget the time he saw Terrell running through his daughter's house "buck naked." A cousin, Shamarrez Neal, read a poem for Terrell, and two girls with the "UNL Praise Dancers" danced in the church aisles.