Fond farewell: Trolley victim Hinckley is laid to rest

Critically injured, Carolyn Tuft inched closer to her dying daughter, grabbed her hand and spoke words of reassurance to the teenager.

"I pulled myself close to her, held her hand and told her I loved her," Carolyn Tuft said during the funeral for Kirsten Hinckley, 15. "And that's when she drew her last breath."

The last of the Trolley Square shooting victims was buried Wednesday under balmy skies — a service delayed so Tuft could attend after being released from the hospital earlier this week.

Her talk during the one-hour service at the LDS Butler Stake Center, near 3300 East and 7000 South, was the most emotional of the afternoon.

She walked gingerly and was assisted by her sons as she climbed the chapel stairs to the podium. She thanked everyone at LDS Hospital as well as the law enforcement community, both those who responded the night of the massacre and those who have helped the family since.

"I am very blessed to be standing here today," she told the large crowd that extended into the overflow seating in the gymnasium. "It's a miracle I'm not with Kirsten."

Tuft said she had been overwhelmed by the cards, letters, e-mails and flowers she has received from people all over the world.

"Who knew such a horrible tragedy could affect so many people?" she asked.

Hinckley, Jeffrey Walker, Vanessa Quinn, Teresa Ellis and Brad Frantz were all shot and killed Feb. 12 when 18-year-old Sulejman Talovic went on a random killing spree inside the mall.

But it was not the horror of the tragedy that dominated Wednesday but rather the memory of the teenager with the infectious smile who had a natural gift to draw the warmth of others to her.

Tuft recalled that her daughter loved to jump in puddles, watch bugs crawl across the pavement, snuggle with her in bed and stay up talking for hours with her about everything from dolls to boys.

"She couldn't wait to go to the prom and hoped she'd get asked," her mother recalled.

But while Tuft was recovering at the hospital and her friend brought a batch of cookies to cheer her up, the reality of what had happened became clear when she instinctively tried to put a cookie in her pocket to save for her daughter when she went home.

"At that moment my heart sank and the reality hit me that Kirsten wasn't home to receive that cookie," she said tearfully.