CARBONDALE, Pa. — About a hundred people filed into the auditorium at Carbondale Area High School to pay tribute to five-year-old Zavier Taylor, a boy remembered as Carbondale Area's angel.
Zavier died on December 6, just days after he was rushed to the hospital with a traumatic brain injury.
Devon Boone, the boyfriend of the boy's mother, told police he was play fighting with the child.
Boone was charged with aggravated assault.
Those who gathered to remember him heard from teachers who knew him best.
"Starting off bright and early right off the bus, he would come running down the hallway with his big smile, backpack and all, and give me the biggest, tightest hug," said Madison Gasper.
"Zavier was a kind, loving little boy who was loved by everyone who had the opportunity to know him," said Kristy Kawash.
At one point, the auditorium lights were dimmed as those gathered held up small tea lights as a vigil to Zavier.
Madison Gasper told the audience she was lucky to have been his preschool teacher, "The spunky happy-go-lucky five-year-old. I wish everyone could have spent a day with him because, to be honest, he changed my life."
Everyone in the auditorium was encouraged to take home the little tea lights that were handed out and display them in the windows of their homes.
Devon Boone, the suspect in Zavier's assault, is due back in court Wednesday.