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Mourners Say Goodbye To Girl Killed At Party

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By GEORGE H. NEWMAN | The Tampa Tribune

Published: October 10, 2008

PLANT CITY About 500 mourners gathered Thursday at a Plant City church to say goodbye and honor the memory of a teenager whose life ended with an accidental shooting at a party.

Amid tears, sobs and sorrow, a steady stream of mourners approached the open casket that held the body of 17-year-old Brooke Suzanne McDonald. Her parents, Mitch and Barbara, and her 19-year-old sister Danielle, stood with other family members in a receiving line to accept condolences in the sanctuary of Plant City Church of God. The procession of mourners, at its peak, wound through the expansive church, into the lobby onto the sidewalk at the front.

McDonald was shot at an Oct. 4 party by Thomas Andrew Grieco, 20, who aimed a revolver he thought was unloaded and pulled the trigger, Plant City police said. McDonald was killed instantly.

Family members stood for 40 minutes at the viewing, sharing hugs and kind words with mourners. Many young men and women who knew McDonald from school and in her neighborhood came to be with her one last time.

As a thunderstorm rolled in and a hard rain fell, the family was ushered into a prayer room as the remaining mourners passed by the casket. Many of them cried and held a friend or loved one close as they moved solemnly past the flower-draped coffin.

Amid sounds of thunder and pounding rain, clergy, friends and family members took turns at the pulpit remembering the auburn-haired girl with a beautiful smile who "lit up every room she walked into." She died a little more than a month before her 18th birthday.

The Rev. Ernest Holbrook asked mourners during a eulogy to remember that Jesus "gives us hope of a new life. No more tears."

"We have suffered a great loss. She is now with Jesus. She has given us precious memories we can never forget," he said.

Holbrook said such tragedies can't be explained, but that friends and family should take heart that she became a Christian and has passed from her loving earthly family into Heaven. It's not "how she died but how she lived," he said.

"This is a tragedy that asks us to make a commitment to God."

Danielle McDonald, said she had a dream that she had the chance to be with her sister one more time. "I would hold you every second and tell you I love you, over and over again" she said in a sobbing voice.

"We were so close growing up. I will miss her so much."

McDonald loved boating, the beach, playing with children and spending time with her family.
During the 55-minute church service Barbara McDonald sat on the upholstered chair closest to the coffin, with her daughter and husband by her side. During the service she leaned over edge of the coffin and wrapped her arms around the head of her daughter.

Following the end of the service the family again said their goodbyes, kissing the departed teen. Danielle McDonald told her sister "I will always love you" in a voice that could be heard throughout the sanctuary. Her mother moaned and sobbed aloud as the coffin's lid was closed. Then the family followed the coffin out of the church.

The rain had stopped.

But the tears continued to flow.

Reporter George H. Newman can be reached at (813) 865-4451.

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