OGDEN -- Teachers and faculty of the schools 10-year-old Ame Deal attended in Ogden said they wished they could have done more for her.
But they are grateful they had the chance to love her while they did.
"I don't want Ame to be remembered as a girl who was abused and who died in a box," said Jileen Boydstan, who was Ame's second-grade teacher at James Madison Elementary. "I want people to remember her as a beautiful human being."
Boydstan and others spoke Friday morning at a memorial in Lester Park, marking the one-month anniversary of the girl's death Phoenix.
"I want to thank heaven for giving me the opportunity to know and love Ame," Boydstan said. "Ame, if you are listening, please know that we love you."
About 50 people were in attendance. Most were teachers at schools Ame had attended while living in Ogden and Salt Lake City.
Police said she died after being locked in a foot locker and suffering other punishments including being forced to exercise in the heat after her caretakers became angry because she'd taken a Popsicle out of the freezer.
But Friday, she was remembered for being loving and hungry for positive attention from adults.
Ross Lunceford, former principal at James Madison and now principal at Horace Mann Elementary, said Ame "always had a smile on her face.
"She was the kid in school who every teacher wanted to take home," he said. "She would hug my leg and attach herself to it. I'd be walking down the hallway. I really couldn't get her to let go."
Lunceford said when staff at the school learned about problems in Ame's life, it just endeared her to them more.
"It was great to be able to see the staff spring into action for a kid and see the outpouring of love for her and that family," he said.
But as loving as Ame was in return, faculty said she was a "real" child, with a mischievous streak.
Anne Freimuth, director of Prevent Child Abuse Utah, said she believed that "mischievous" nature likely was her resiliency to what was going on at home.
Teachers and a counselor said they reported Ame's family to the Department of Child and Family Services on multiple occasions.
But Freimuth said the agency is limited in what they can do, explaining that when investigators would visit the home, they only saw a "snapshot" at that time and possibly could have done more had they visited at other times.
She urged those at the memorial to lobby for tougher laws protecting children. She said tougher laws may have protected Ame better.
"We need to stop demonizing state agencies that are charged with protecting our children," she said in an interview.
Jody Hansen, a counselor at James Madison Elementary, said Ame often came to school very dirty.
"She was definitely the target," Hansen said in an interview. "We were always calling them to pick her up because she smelled so bad she couldn't stay in the classroom."
After the service, Freimuth talked to the teachers present about bringing more programs to their schools to teach both students and teachers more about how to notice and prevent child abuse.
"I'm just pleased that Ame had a group of adults around her that loved her," she said. "That's more than a lot of children have."
John and Samantha Allen, both 23, face murder and child abuse charges in Arizona in the girl's death. Judith Deal, 72, and Cynthia Stoltzmann, 43, face multiple charges of child abuse.
Samantha Allen is Ame's cousin, Judith Deal is her grandmother and Cynthia Stoltzmann is her aunt and legal guardian.
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