LAWRENCE, Mass. — A four-hour wake and funeral service was held for a 16-year-old sophomore at a Massachusetts high school whose headless body was found near a river just day eight days prior. 

“RIP Lee, we are sorry, fly high. Fly high baby boy. Lee, you are much loved!”

Those inscriptions and many more were written on a poster board a tearful Najelis Gonzalez, 15, gave to the family of murder victim Lee Manuel Viloria-Paulino Friday evening.

Gonzalez, a ninth grader at Lawrence High School, said she and dozens of other students signed the poster board in Viloria-Paulino’s memory. 

“Loved by many, forgotten by none,” and “May angels carry you,” other students wrote. 

The wake drew family members, friends and even strangers on of the coldest nights so far this fall. 

Nelson Maldonado, 59, of Lawrence said he never met the boy but wanted to show his support for his family.

“I wanted to pay my respects,” he told the North Andover, Massachusetts Eagle-Tribune.

Superintendent of Schools Jeff Riley, Assistant Superintendent Mary Lou Bergeron, Michael Fiato, Lawrence High headmaster, and Mayor Daniel Rivera all arrived to pay their respects to the family when services started at 4 p.m.

LHS student Genessi Ramirez, 17, went to the service because she wanted Viloria-Paulino’s family to know the community supports them “in their tragic loss.” 

“And that justice should be made,” she added. 

On Thursday, Dec. 1, a woman walking her dog called police after spotting a decapitated body on a river bank about a mile from the high school. 

Within minutes, the area was teeming with police officers and detectives. 

The following day, the body was officially identified as Viloria-Paulino, who was reported missing by his family members on Nov. 19.

His classmate, Mathew Borges, 15, is being held without bail, charged with first-degree murder. 

According to police, Borges told an unidentified witness that he stabbed and then beheaded Viloria-Paulino on Nov. 18 after the two went to the river bank that evening to smoke marijuana.

The motive for the murder remains unclear. 

At the funeral home Friday evening, mourners knelt to pray in front of a white casket adorned by several sprays and vases of flowers.  The poster board signed by students was displayed among pictures of Viloria-Paulino throughout his life, according to mourners.

A stunning black and white portrait of Viloria-Paulino by local artist Samil Alba was also on display in the funeral home. 

LHS teacher Sondra Longo said the murder has “been such a blow to the high school community.” 

“I just wanted to show the family we are all there for them,” she said as she was leaving the funeral home Friday night.

Students, she said, are “very sad and very scared.”

“They’ve seen a lot of difficult things. But this is definitely the worst,” Longo added.

Harmacinski writes for the North Andover, Massachusetts Eagle-Tribune.