Church launches campaign for Nicole Ella, ‘best in memorizing Bible’

Church members who once marvelled at Stephanie Nicole Ella’s talents, including her ability to memorize scripture, launched a signature campaign seeking justice for the stray bullet victim, as the seven-year-old girl was laid to rest on Saturday.

A convoy festooned with pink and white balloons left the Lord’s Flock International chapel in Malaria, Caloocan City, before noon to bring Nicole’s remains for burial at Sanctuario de Paz Memorial Park in Norzagaray, Bulacan province. The balloons bore the message: “Justice for Nicole.”

Lord’s Flock parishioners led by Pastor Renato Franco have initiated a petition pressuring authorities to arrest the still unidentified triggerman who fired a .45-cal. bullet into the air that hit the girl on its way down as she watched fireworks during the New Year revelry.

The petition, which seeks to gather a million signatures, will be sent to President Aquino, according to church member Luisa Gaño.

She said her religious community would remember Nicole for many things, especially the girl’s ability to recite long Biblical verses from memory. “She was very smart, not only in school but also in church,” said Gaño, who joined hundreds of sympathizers in bidding Nicole goodbye.

Nicole stood out among the children attending the parish’s Bible class during summer, she recalled. The girl earned three medals last year for being the most attentive, the most well-behaved and the best in memorizing verses.

On Thursday, the Caloocan police arrested what they called “a person of interest” in the stray bullet killing, a man living near the Ella residence.

Grene Da, a resident of Barangay 185 also in Malaria, Caloocan, was taken into police custody after a search in his house yielded a pistol and boxes of ammunition.

“We asked a Caloocan court for a search warrant after we received information from a concerned citizen that Da allegedly fired a gun on New Year’s Eve,” said the city’s deputy police chief, Supt. Jackie Candelario.

Candelario said Da’s house was within the 50-meter radius from the Ellas’ home, the area where police believed the bullet that killed the girl was fired.

The officer said the team that searched Da’s home found a 9-mm pistol and a matching pack of ammo, as a well as bullets for a .45-cal. pistol.

Candelario said Da produced a license for a .9-mm pistol but none for a .45-caliber. With a report from Nathaniel R. Melican