Hundreds farewell slain teen
Grieving mum pays tribute to her ‘everything’. Hamish McNeilly and Hannah Martin report.
Schoolgirl Amber-Rose Rush was described as someone who fought for those who couldn’t ‘‘fight for themselves’’, at a colourful service on Saturday.
Hundreds dressed in bright colours to mourn the loss of their daughter, sister, aunt and friend at Hope and Sons Chapel in Dunedin.
The 16-year-old was found dead at her Corstorphine home on February 3.
A 30-year-old doctor has been charged with murdering her the night before.
Amber-Rose ‘‘took no shit’’, and was staunchly protective of her friends and family, the gathering heard.
The ‘‘cheeky and spunky’’ girl was described as valuing honesty, having a sense of justice and unafraid to say what she thought.
She ‘‘stuck up for the underdog,’’ family said.
Her boyfriend, Ben, said she always had his back, a sentiment echoed by her sister Shantelle and mother Lisa Rush.
Rush said her daughter may have acted tough, but she was ‘‘marshmallow on the inside’’.
‘‘You are the glue that holds together.
‘‘You are my best friend, my love, my spark, my everything . . . love mum.’’
A letter Rush wrote to AmberRose on her first birthday was also us read out, in which she expressed her hope that her daughter would have a ‘‘beautiful life and a family of your own’’.
‘‘And you will understand the absolute love that I have for you.’’
Her father nicknamed her ‘‘peanut’’ and her step-father called her ‘shorty’.
Her death would be ‘‘difficult to accept as order had been betrayed,’’ mourners heard.
Another tribute recalled the time Amber used her last $10 from her pay to take a homeless man into a supermarket to buy some food.
The experience moved her to tears.
The service heard Amber-Rose had bought a car, a Honda Prelude, three weeks before she died, and added her own touches: a pink steering wheel cover, a pink flying pig and a pink mat.
The supermarket worker, who had ambitions of being a police officer and dog handler, was described as a person who would light up each room she entered.
Family said she was the ‘‘life and soul of the party’’ and miss out on anything.
Her coffin, carried by her family, was led out of the chapel to Eminem song Remind Me, which she had played in the car with her mum the night of her death.
Amber-Rose’s older brother, Jayden, earlier said his sister was a talented artist and loved to draw.
‘‘Our best friend and closest family member is gone.’’
The family got matching to remember her.
Police officers this week recovered an item of interest – understood to be a cellphone – from Blackhead Quarry.
The accused was granted interim name suppression and remanded in custody without entering a plea until his next High Court appearance, scheduled for later this month.
A Givealittle page, started by Amber-Rose’s sister Shantelle, had raised $7620 for the family.
You are my best friend, my love, my spark, my everything, love mum Lisa Rush, Amber-Rose’s mother, pictured together.
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