Commemoration stones lays in rows after a memorial ceremony in front of the Albertville Realschule (school) in Winnenden, March 11, 2010.
Commemoration stones lays in rows after a memorial ceremony in front of the Albertville Realschule (school) in Winnenden, March 11, 2010. A 17-year old gunman went on a shooting spree at his former secondary school, the Albertville-Realschule in Winnenden in southwest Germany on March 11, 2009, killing up to 15 people before dying himself in a shootout with police. Reuters/Johannes Eisele

Friends and family of Tara Brown bid their last goodbyes on Thursday morning at the Southport Church of Christ. Around 1,000 people gathered at the funeral service of the victim of the Gold Coast murder last week.

Mourners included her family, friends, colleagues from Southport law firm and other companions who loved and respected the 24-year-old mother. The church was tightly packed with visitors who came to pay their last respects, all of whom wore white ribbons to show their support to the campaign against domestic violence.

The strumming guitars and harmonious music filled the hearts of the mourners with sorrow. They all remembered the woman who had left them forever. The most emotional moment was to see Aria, the three-year-old daughter of Brown, who stood next to her mother’s flowered white casket not fully understanding what had actually happened to her mum.

At the funeral, everyone in touch with Brown in her last days remembered her. During the service, it was heard that Brown grew up as a tomboy, who loved playing outdoor games with male relatives. “Tara had two main things she loved in life – one was Aria and the other was taking selfies,” said a friend and colleague Mary Jeffries, as quoted by Courier Mail .

Brown’s stepfather Johnny was holding Aria in his arms and said, wiping his tears, “You can’t think of Tara without a smile coming to your face.” Tara has touched people in so many adorable ways, he added.

The funeral service played songs like Sarah McLachlan’s “In the Arms of an Angel,” sung by one of Brown’s close friends.

Brown was allegedly attacked by her ex-bikie husband, Lionel Patea, on Tuesday. She was taken to the Gold Coast University Hospital, where she died the following day. Police has charged Patea with murder and said that Patea beat Brown severely when she tried to escape and ran off the road. He has been taken into protective custody until his next hearing in November.

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