Alianna DeFreeze was found dead in an abandoned Cleveland building. Cleveland Police Department
CLEVELAND, Ohio — The family of 14-year-old Alianna DeFreeze, who was killed and left in an abandoned building in Cleveland, had to find a new funeral venue after its initial choice refused to open its doors, family member said.
Heather Hall, Alianna’s cousin, said the New Spirit Revival Civic Conference and Events Center in Cleveland Heights told the family they would not be able to hold the funeral and wake on Saturday as planned.
Hall said the church told her they didn’t have enough staff to open the events center and that there was a “hiccup” with getting the funds for the funeral from a GoFundMe account established after Alianna’s death.
On Wednesday, the family made plans to hold Alianna’s wake and services at the Imani Temple Ministries on North Taylor Road in Cleveland Heights, according to the Lucas Memorial Chapel funeral home.
The wake will be at noon with services to follow at 12:30 a.m.
The switch by the Civic Conference and Events Center left the family bewildered, Hall said.
“They told us they’d hold the space and we could pay them Wednesday,” Hall said. “But they called Tuesday and asked for the money. Then they told us the space was no longer available.”
Several area churches stepped forward in the meantime to offer their church free of charge to the family.
Pastor Tony Williams of the River of Life Ministries in Euclid said he has offered the family the use of his church and facilities free of charge.
“This is one of the biggest things we do in ministry,” Williams said. “The family’s grief is so overwhelming at a time like this. To have plans for it and then have it changed at such a delicate time is heartbreaking.”
Our editors found this article on this site using Google and regenerated it for our readers.
