Slain W.Va. teenager mourned at service

INWOOD, W.Va. -- It was a somber evening at the Brown Funeral Home's South Berkeley Chapel, as about 150 of Melanie Wells' friends and family gathered to remember the young woman and mourn the tragic loss of a loving friend, daughter and sister.

Wells, 18, was one of four victims found bludgeoned to death Sept. 18 in Farmville. Richard Samuel Alden McCroskey III, 20, of Castro Valley, Calif., is suspected in all four deaths.

At the service last night, photo collages of Wells' life were at the front of the room, and emotional rock songs such as "21 Guns" by Green Day and "Here Without You" by 3 Doors Down played before Pastor Jeff McLeod of First Baptist Church spoke on behalf of the Wells family.

"I just don't understand this," he said. "Like all of you here today, I struggle to understand times like this."

"God isn't up there pulling levers," he said. "People have the ability to make choices for themselves."

McLeod read a note from Wells' family that detailed their memories of her as a child, including her love of picking wildflowers and her fascination with dinosaurs.

"She could name all their scientific names," McLeod read.

The note also spoke of Wells' infectious laugh, how she loved her family, friends and her cat Beans, and that she had a big heart. If she found a bug in the house, she would let it out.

The family's note included a story of Wells' first day at Musselman High School, after her family's move to the area from Louisville, Ky. Wells expressed fear that she would have no friends, and that everyone there knew each other.

As that first day passed and the final school bell rang, Wells displayed that contagious energy by returning with several new friends, "evident by the people here today," the note concluded.

Wells had planned to pursue GED certification and hoped to attend a college in Virginia, McLeod said.

He encouraged those at the service to "drop their rocks and take care of one another. The world would be a better place if we love one another, and there would be less of these senseless things happening."

Members of Wells' family, as well as friends, declined to comment after the service, citing respect for the family.