Fierce. Funny. Goofy. Energetic.
She loved macaroni and cheese, Hello Kitty and playing at Charles Street Park.
Most of all, she was loved.
Hundreds of people crowded into a South Wilkes-Barre parking lot at dusk Saturday to share stories about La’Niyah Clark, known to those who loved her as "Lala."
Memories flowed, as did tears, with family and friends grasping candles and carrying balloons in the shadow of a commercial garage off Thayer Street where La’Niyah's remains were discovered seven days earlier.
"Yeah, this is probably the hardest thing I've ever done," adoptive father Antoine Clark quietly told the crowd.
La’Niyah's death remains under investigation, but a biological aunt, Bobbiejo Etzel, 36, faces charges in connection with the case.
'She was our baby'
"Lala was such a bright light in our family. She was our wild child. She laughed, she joked. She had the goofiest laugh that you can ever hear, and it was so loud and it would shake the house over," Clark said.
"She always kept us in stitches and just laughing all the time. And then she also drove us crazy. You can't lie about that," he added.
"But she was our baby, and we're going to miss her deeply."
La’Niyah, who was hearing-impaired, was adopted by Clark and Ameerah Woods in 2020 and lived with them in South Wilkes-Barre.
Woods said she'll remember her daughter's good nature and humor.
"In the past couple days, we've been all sitting around and reminiscing about the funny stories and how she had no filter, and she would say anything that came to her mind, she had no apologies for that. That was who she was," Woods said.
They reported La’Niyah missing on the evening of Jan. 17 after she left home earlier that morning and never returned.
Her remains were discovered Feb. 21 near the garage where Saturday's vigil was held.
La’Niyah was 14 when she went missing. Her birthday was Jan. 26.
Those who attended the vigil carried birthday balloons, with a large 1 and 5 floating against the garage wall above photos and candles and a Hello Kitty cake donated by Gerrity's Supermarket in Luzerne.
'The details of it have impacted us so much'
That cake was one of many gestures that brought some comfort to Candice Lowe, a family friend who has been helping La’Niyah's parents and acting as a spokesperson.
"We have a biker group here. We have people who told me 'English isn't my first language' who came out to offer support. You have people who drove from hours away. People have called, messaged," Lowe said.
"And that's the type of community that makes you feel proud to be a part of. But importantly, it's so good to have when you're going through something like this," she said.
"It restores your faith in humanity."
But that faith has been badly shaken.
A police affidavit said that there were suspected signs of trauma to La’Niyah's body, including cuts and bruising. She was found naked in the snow.
Police said they found rope and purple scissors, a MAC knife, hairs from a folding knife, white plastic material and a red ribbon at the scene.
"I mean, there's so many things that we can't discuss about an active investigation to not jeopardize it," Lowe said.
"The details of it have impacted us so much, to our core," she said.
'We are not done with this, Lala'
Chants of ‘Justice for Lala’ echoed through the evening as family and friends remembered La’Niyah fondly.
Adoptive grandmother Carmen Tinson said she and her granddaughter were “so much alike.”
“I'll tell you one thing, Lala is an angel,” Tinson said. “And we are not done with this, Lala. There's going to be justice for Lala.”
A young girl who identified herself as Bella during the vigil called La’Niyah her best friend.
“She had the biggest personality,” she said. “She was so sweet. I love that girl so much. It hurts me as a 13-year-old to know that my best friend is gone forever."
"I truly do love Lala, and we always used to hang out at Charles Street Park, and we would ride our scooter, and she had an electric bike. We used to ride around, and we used to joke, laugh, drink Dr. Pepper. It's just the little things that really did matter about my best friend,” Bella said.
A group of La’Niyah’s counselors from the YMCA spoke about their time with the teen, who they said had been attending their programs for two years.
“I'll never forget how vivacious she was, her laugh, her smile, how courageous she was,” said a woman who identified herself as Miss Alexis. “As part of working with kids, you tend to love them like your own. When you spend so much time with them, and I did love her like my own.”
Another YMCA staffer said of La’Niyah: “She unapologetically took up space, and I loved that about her. A lot of times, girls are taught to shrink. I never saw that with her. She was always big, she was always there, and she let you know she was there. I just think that's really inspiring.”
The family wants to keep La’Niyah’s memory alive.
“I am going to forever and ever fight for you. You will not go a day without seeing your face on my social media. Lala did play every day at Charles Street Park. We are going to fight for you, Lala, name that park after you. It'll be Lala’s Park when we're done,” said her adoptive aunt, Sameerah Woods.
Status of case
In a statement released Friday, Wilkes-Barre Police Chief Michael Boyle and Luzerne County District Attorney Sam Sanguedolce said the remains were confirmed as La’Niyah through dental records and other circumstantial evidence uncovered in the investigation.
An autopsy was performed on Tuesday, but the cause and manner of death have not yet been determined, Sanguedolce said Friday.
Etzel, meanwhile, was arrested in Hagerstown, Maryland, with the assistance of U.S. Marshals and is expected to be charged with corruption of minors and interfering with La’Niyah's custody, the release stated.
"Etzel was, at the time, reported to be the subject of a Protection from Abuse (PFA) order issued by the Luzerne County Court of Common Pleas directing her not to have contact" with La’Niyah, the release states.
"Etzel is being held in the Washington County Detention Center in Hagerstown, Maryland, where county detectives will transport her back to the Luzerne County Correctional Facility for arraignment on her charges," the release stated.
Investigation on Tuesday had focused on a New Alexander Street apartment building, about a half mile away, where "the parties at this address have been related back to La’Niyah Clark," Sanguedolce said.
Many people from the apartment building were being questioned, Sanguedolce said Tuesday, but declined to say whether anyone who lived there was a suspect.
A search of registered Megan's Law Offenders showed an individual with a history of rape and sexual assault living at that address.
Tinson said her family sought the PFA against Etzel in October, and claims the relative had La’Niyah in a home with a "pedophile."
Sanguedolce told WVIA News Friday he could not comment when asked about the possibility of further arrests in the case.
'We will ensure justice is served'
Family friend Lowe organized several social media pages to support the family’s efforts to find La’Niyah. She said she never thought the search would end as it did.
“She was such a wildly fierce child that she didn't deserve this outcome, but we will ensure justice is served,” Lowe said to the crowd through tears.
Lowe wants La’Niyah to be remembered for her big personality and spirit.
“I really want to focus on the purity of who this was. I want it to be stressed. This is a child who had a Hello Kitty backpack going to school on the first day and had so much life to live. And she didn't even get an ounce of real life yet,” she said.
The family says they will fight for justice and be advocates for change.
“Every fiber of my being will be spent making sure everyone knows this and sure it doesn't happen, because unfortunately, statistically, Black and brown children aren't given the right coverage when they are gone missing,” Lowe said.
Relatives and friends have said city police didn't act quickly enough to find the missing teen, and they question why an Amber Alert wasn't issued for La’Niyah.
Wilkes-Barre Police Chief Michael Boyle and a city spokesperson have not responded to WVIA News' requests for comment on those issues.
