A community says goodbye to a little girl brutally raped and killed in bed while her parents slept in South Sioux City, Nebraska. A public memorial was held for 3-year old Evelyn Verdugo-Paniagua Thursday in Sergeant Bluff, Iowa.

Evelyn's father, Leonardo Verdugo, said, "she used to love to dance and sing." But now, Evelyn is still, her picture burned into many memories with a smile that remains long after her death. Evelyn was only three years old when she was raped, sodomized and murdered.

Her father, Leonardo, and mother, Brisa Paniagua, remembered happier times at Evelyn's memorial Thursday. "She was a very happy child," Brisa said. "She always said hi to everybody, laughed all the time. She used to watch Dora the cartoon all day and she was happy with that."

A little girl who also loved pizza almost as much as her mother's home cooking. "She loved tortillas, homemade beans, always happy with that and if there's none she would say 'where's the tortillas mom, where's the beans?'," recalled Brisa.

Like so many little girls, Evelyn loved to play mother to her brothers. It was her 5-year old brother, Brandon, who witnessed what happened to his sister early Saturday morning in their bedroom. Brandon later identified her alleged killer.

At Evelyn's public memorial Thursday, dozens of people came to say their good-byes. Some of them were family, some were friends and some of them were complete strangers left lost by this unspeakable act. "I just wanted the family to know that even though I don't know them personally, it does not mean I don't care," said Belia Padilla of Sioux City.

A community healing together through a kind of violence not seen here in decades. "It really doesn't matter what race, what language you speak - when something like this strikes, you're there - regardless of who you are, you're willing to do whatever you can to help out," said Padilla.

Susie Squires is known in her community for helping kids, especially sexual assault victims, though her organization - Watchful Eye Foundation. Since Evelyn's murder, she's been helping Evelyn's parents, acting as the family's spokesperson.

Squires says, "he went in through the bedroom window of the little girl Evelyn and raped and sodomized and then killed her, and then left through the front door." It all also traumatized Evelyn's five year old brother. "He was awake the majority of the time and basically played possum through it all," explains Squires. When the children's mother awoke to tend to an infant, she found the little boy awake in the night. "Her older boy who is five was awake and crying on the couch, and she asked him what was the matter and he stated that there was somebody hurting his sister."

That brother, who shared a room here with his sister, later identified her alleged killer. 29-year old De Jesus Melisio-Camacho, a friend of Evelyn's family and a suspected illegal immigrant, is under arrest.

Melisio-Camacho's immigration status has upset many, like Squires, because it's become the focus for some people. "This has nothing whatsoever to do with illegal immigration. This is a human being and as fellow human beings we need to show compassion because a little girl has been killed." Squires says there are other forums to voice opinions about immigration, and it upsets the family to see that many choose to focus on that and not the tragedy at hand.

Melisio-Camacho was in jail in Dakota County, Nebraska, but threats against him forced a transfer to the state penitentiary in Lincoln Wednesday.

Terry Kern, Dakota County Corrections Director, says, "if it's something that would cause people to react in a violent manner, where emotion overrides reason, and this is one of those situations where that would happen, inside those walls that could be really something to deal with."

Melisio-Camacho will be held in Lincoln at least until his next hearing, scheduled for June 16th in Dakota County Court. He was arraigned Tuesday on charges of burglary, sexual assault of a child and first-degree murder. His bail was set at $5 million.

A tragic ending for a little girl known better for her happiness, called "Smiley" by many who knew her. "She was a happy child, from pictures when she was maybe three or four months old, she had this grin from ear to ear and these really bright, sparkly eyes," describes Squires. "People all over are mourning this little girl because this is severe, what happened to her and most of us have a child in our life whether it's our own child or a niece or a nephew and we can relate to this."

Squires also fears there could be other victims out there. She says Melisio-Camacho lived in Arizona before moving to Nebraska and lived in Mexico before that. "I can almost guarantee you that a 29-year old man doesn't suddenly, in the middle of the night, rape and sodomize and murder a three year old child, and she had just turned three," says Squires. "Be aware of who we allow our children to be around at all times because the nicest guy in the world can be a sexual predator."

Family members are not living in the home at this time, and they don't want to go back. There is a fund to help with funeral expenses and the cost to find a new home for the family. Donations can be made through the Dakota County State Bank in South Sioux City.

There is a public memorial Thursday. It's at the Waterbury Funeral Home at 400 4th Street in Sergeant Bluff, Iowa. It's from four to seven p.m.