A service "Celebrating the Life" of 8-year-old Treasure Brighon was held at True Bethel Baptist Church on Monday.
Treasure died last week in Shriners Hospital, in Cincinatti, Ohio, more than two months after being pulled out of a burning home on Humber Avenue in Buffalo. Her aunt Gwendolyn says she is still struggling over what happened.
"I came to realize that she was never ours. God just let us borrow her and he needed her for something more severe, more serious. And we just don't know what it is yet," her aunt said.
Stop the Violence Coalition chairman Murray Holman called on mourners to push for a pediatric burn unit in Buffalo's new Women and Children's Hospital. Afterward, Holman said the idea is in response to having to send Treasure to Shriner's Hospital in Cincinatti, Ohio for treatment.
"I believe it's needed in the city, a burn ward to deal with issues like that, instead of sending them far away, being that we're on this quest of having medical centers and things of that nature here. We need to have that in place here," Holman said.
Holman also says the new Children's burn ward should be named "Treasure's Island." Other mourners voiced support for the idea.
The fire also claimed the life of Treasure's stepfather Demetrius Johnson, who pulled the girl to safety and another resident, Juan Montanez.