Mount Vernon Teen Jholie Moussa Remembered At Memorial Service

MOUNT VERNON, VA—Hundreds of family said goodbye to 16-year-old Jholie Moussa Thursday night at a memorial service. The Mount Vernon teen's body had been found Jan. 26 in Woodlawn Park after she had been missing for weeks.

The service was held at New Life Open Bible Church in Springfield. According to Fox5DC, her twin sister Zhane and stepfather spoke at the service. The church was packed with people paying their respects.

"She’s where she needs to be and we are happy that we do have some closure," Natasha Brown, a family friend, told FOX5DC. "The family is doing well. Everybody is hanging in there, just one day at a time."

Others paid respects to Moussa, a student at Mount Vernon High School, through memorials set up at the school and Woodlawn Park.

Officers continue to investigate her death and have identified a person of interest. The 17-year-old boy is already in police custody for a prior assault on Moussa. Sources tell WUSA9 the boy is Moussa's ex-boyfriend. He has not yet been charged in Moussa's death. Autopsy results are pending.

The teen went missing on Jan. 13 and had been initially entered as a runaway juvenile in the National Crime Information Center database. That status was later changed to an endangered minor. Detectives said there wasn't evidence she was in immediate danger, so no Amber Alert was issued.

Her mother Syreeta Steward-Hill had believed her daughter would not run away on her own account. "It hurt me how it was handled," Steward-Hill previously told FOX5DC. "It just hurt because I know my child and I know that it was out of character for her not to come home." According to the mother, Jholie told her twin sister she would be back and didn't bring personal items with.

Image via Fairfax County Police