Ten-year-old Aaliyah Destiny Boyer was remembered Saturday as a joyful little girl who loved her family, her best friend, Justin Bieber and Jesus.

More than 300 people turned out to Manheim Brethren in Christ Church for a viewing and funeral for Aaliyah, who lived with her maternal grandmother, Bengie Lindsey, and her husband, Richard Lindsey, in Manheim.

She was the daughter of Crystal Blackburn, of Newark, Del., and Vincent S. Boyer, of Kennett Square.

With her mother and other family members, Aaliyah was visiting the home of her maternal grandfather, James Blackburn, and his wife, Cheri Blackburn, in Elkton, Md., on New Year's Eve.

Just after midnight, she was struck by a stray bullet — what authorities called "celebratory gunfire" — while watching fireworks from her grandparents' yard.

She died two days later at A.I. duPont Hospital for Children in Wilmington, Del.

Lt. Michael Holmes, spokesman for the Cecil County Sheriff's Office, which is investigating the death with the Maryland and Delaware state police, said that celebratory gunfire is "pretty common" on New Year's Eve and July Fourth in Cecil County (though it is illegal to fire guns into the air in Maryland).

Death as a result of celebratory gunfire "is a rare occurrence — something we've never experienced before," Holmes said.

He said "some people" have come forward and have admitted to firing guns into the air at midnight on New Year's Eve. Holmes said Friday that it was "a very active investigation."

Cheri Blackburn, Aaliyah's step-grandmother, said family members were hoping "they catch the person," but in some way, she hopes they don't.

Everyone who was firing guns on New Year's Eve "bears some responsibility" for Aaliyah's death, and they should carry the weight of that going forward, so they don't make the same mistake again, she contended, adding, "Once you have somebody to blame, you're off the hook."

At Saturday's funeral, some family members and friends were wearing T-shirts emblazoned with Aaliyah's image and the words, "Fly High Lil Angel," and "Forever in Our Hearts."

On the back of the T-shirts were these stark words: "Stop Celebratory Gunfire."

Andrew Beamsderfer, of Leola, a close family friend, said such gunfire "happens all the time," and has to stop.

"People should understand that what goes up comes down," he said, noting that he was "not against guns," but "guns do kill if you don't use them properly."

A steady stream of mourners filed past the small white casket that held Aaliyah and some of her stuffed animals.

In the assembly lobby, display tables were arrayed with photos of Aaliyah as a baby, as a toddler, as a schoolkid — at a playground, at a birthday party, with the Chuck E. Cheese mascot.

A video tribute, with more photos, played on monitors. There was Aaliyah, looking like an angel in a long, frothy, white flower girl dress; eating ice cream; wearing her school backpack; posing with a birthday cake that had been made for her and her big sister, Kayla, who is older by two years and two days.

Mementos from her life as a student at H.C. Burgard Elementary School — where, as a third-grader, she was "Student of the Week" — also were on display: a laminated book report; a wreath made out of construction paper mittens; a poster made by her fourth-grade classmates. And there was a floral arrangement from the Burgard students and staff: a silk butterfly, a pink pail and a pinwheel were set amid gerbera daisies and roses.

There was also a basket of what looked to be blue silk carnations from Aaliyah's best friend; a white ribbon, edged in gold, was printed with the acronym "BFF," for "best friends forever."

Nearby, a rainbow had been painted in fluorescent hues on brown paper. Those at the funeral were urged to pledge to do one random act of kindness, in Aaliyah's honor, and to write down what they planned to do on brightly colored scraps of paper.

"I will be more patient with others," "I will feed someone food who's hungry and hug someone who needs it," "I will be nice to my older brother," "I will help someone when they are sick," "I will help someone with homework," read some of the pledges.

Renee Aukamp, Aaliyah's homeroom teacher, said she vowed to "tell somebody I liked their boots."

Aaliyah "always had fancy shoes on," she said, with a teary smile. "She was absolutely beautiful."

"She was a sweet, bubbly girl with a wonderful personality," said Kate Bobst, principal of Burgard Elementary. "She will be greatly missed by the students and staff."

A sizable number of staff members and students attended Saturday's funeral.

Aaliyah's death had hit the school hard, Bobst said, noting that a team of counselors had been available to students and staff members, and would continue to be available.

Aukamp said the fourth-graders came together to do an activity in which they said kind things about each other, and then shared their thoughts about Aaliyah.

Manheim Brethren in Christ Youth Pastor Corby Burkholder, who led the funeral service, shared some of the adjectives her classmates had used to describe her: kind, funny, smart, sweet, friendly, cool, epic, trustworthy, amazing, fun.

One classmate had written: "She loved Justin Bieber." This drew a laugh of recognition from those at the funeral.

At a Friday evening dinner for Aaliyah's family, organized by a Manheim community member, Aaliyah's step-grandfather, Richard Lindsey, said Aaliyah knew other kids didn't think Justin Bieber was cool, but she liked him anyway. Her bedroom, he said, was painted a hue she described as "Justin Bieber blue."

Family members said that on the last day of her life, Aaliyah woke up as she always did — filled with zest, ready to skip from one adventure to the next.

She and her mother were lying in bed, watching "Hannah Montana," as Aaliyah divvied out candies from her Christmas Pez dispenser.

"She was going, 'One for you, one for me,'" Crystal Blackburn said, smiling at this recollection of her generous child.

Her daughter was "always happy — jumping, skipping, always smiling," Crystal Blackburn said.

"She was always skipping," said her big sister, Kayla. "We could never get her to sit down for one little minute."

"She lit up the room when she walked in," said Bengie Lindsey, Aaliyah's maternal grandmother. "She was a very cheerful child."

Her birthday was Aug. 27, which might have bothered her because it was so close to the start of school. But Aaliyah loved it, her mother said, "because she got to take her cupcakes on the first day of school."

"She enjoyed life, that's all I can say," Richard Lindsey said.

On New Year's Eve, Aaliyah had been worried she was going to miss the fun; her mother had some car trouble. When she arrived at her grandfather's home, she went straight to him, and snuggled in tight. "I said, 'Honey, you don't have to worry — Pop-Pop will always come get you,'" James Blackburn recalled.

After watching Taylor Swift, another of her favorites, perform on TV, Aaliyah went outside with her cousins to watch the fireworks being set off by neighbors.

She returned 32 seconds too late, Cheri Blackburn said, to watch the ball drop in Times Square.

Unfazed, she went back outside.

"She skipped all the way in and all the way out," James Blackburn said.

Minutes later, she was struck by the bullet that would take her life.

In an interview Friday, Crystal Blackburn said she was sitting by her daughter's bedside in the hospital, crying, when a nurse entered the room. The nurse told her she didn't know how "to make this better" for her, but gently asked if she'd considered donating Aaliyah's organs.

Crystal Blackburn spoke to her mom about it, and Bengie Lindsey was struck by a conversation she'd had with Aaliyah some time ago. The little girl had pulled her grandmother's Pennsylvania ID card out of her wallet, and asked about the organ donor designation on the card. Bengie Lindsey explained what it meant. "She said, 'Oh, I think that's awesome!'" Bengie Lindsey recalled.

So the decision was clear for the family.

Cheri Blackburn said the family was drawing great comfort from the fact that Aaliyah's organs — including her heart — have been donated to five children who desperately needed them.

"I wish it would have been our miracle, that she would have made it," Richard Lindsey said. "That's up to God."

On Friday evening, and again at the funeral, Cheri Blackburn spoke of how Aaliyah's family had prayed desperately to God, "believing he would give us a miracle."

"God saw fit to give us the miracles he decided were best," she said at the funeral.

Five other families "found hope," Cheri Blackburn said, noting that in her 10 years of life, Aaliyah had "touched more lives than most of us will in 70 or 80 years."

"People around the world are taking this to heart and wanting to do things in Aaliyah's name."

In a voice choked with tears, Crystal Blackburn read a letter she'd written to Aaliyah when her daughter was on life support. "There will never be a day when you will not be in my heart or on my mind," she said.

She then read a letter Aaliyah's 6-year-old brother, E.J., had written. "Have a happy New Year with God," that letter began.

Pastor Burkholder said that "as someone who likes to fix things, I can't fix this."

And he said he had no answers for why God might allow something like this to happen.

All that one can do, he said, is to lean on God, knowing that "God is faithful. God has promised to love us, be there for us."

Cheri Blackburn urged those at the funeral to honor Aaliyah's legacy by remembering that life can pass in a blink of an eye. "Her life was about love. I believe she would want us to remember this love."

scassidy@lnpnews.com