Girl is fatally stabbed at Connecticut school on day of prom

Milford, Connecticut: A 16-year-old student was stabbed to death in the hallway of a Connecticut high school Friday morning, the day of the school's junior prom.

The authorities released few details about the attacker, who was identified only as a 16-year-old male student at the school.

The killing occurred around 7:15 a.m., just as the school day was about to begin. Students crammed the halls of Jonathan Law High School, some giddily anticipating donning gowns and tuxedos later that day.

A scream cut the air, and there was momentary confusion as students were hustled into classrooms and told to stay. In one of the halls beneath a stairwell, Maren Sanchez, 16, a well-liked member of the drama club known for her singing voice, lay dying.

She had been stabbed, the authorities said, by another student, who was taken into custody and was charged, as a juvenile, with murder.

Chief Keith Mello of the Milford Police Department said officials had not made any rulings on possible motives, but that investigators were looking into reports that the victim had declined the suspect's invitation to the prom, which was postponed early in the day. "This is a very raw, a very fresh investigation," Mello said.

Tyler Curtin, 16, a junior at the school who said he had known both Sanchez and the suspected attacker since they were in sixth grade together, said the attacker had been dejected when Sanchez turned down his invitation.

"He liked her for a while," Curtin said. "She just got a new boyfriend."

Curtin said he had been in the media center just before the first class of the day at 7:20 a.m. He said the librarian had reported hearing what sounded like someone falling down the stairs, called 911 and told all of the students to stay there.

Immediately after the attack, staff members and a school resource officer subdued the suspect, who was arrested, Mello said.

Some staff members tried to resuscitate Sanchez as students ran for safety, the authorities and witnesses said.

"I saw someone lying there, a teacher was hysterical, the librarian was freaking," said Rebecca Golden, 17. "I guess they were trying to help."

Sanchez was taken to Bridgeport Hospital, where she was pronounced dead at 7:43 a.m.

Meanwhile, classes continued and students said they knew little of the attack until the school was evacuated at about 9 a.m. Sarah Golden, a freshman, said students were initially told that Sanchez had not been gravely wounded, though rumors spread rapidly on Twitter, where students created a hashtag #prayformaren. Golden said she had not heard that Sanchez had died until about 10 a.m., when she saw it on the television news.

Edward Kovac, a cousin, who acted as a spokesman for Sanchez's family, said more must be done to protect children from violence at school.

"The unprovoked attack on Maren this morning has unfortunately for our family resulted in the permanent loss of Maren Victoria Sanchez, a bright light full of hopes and dreams with her future at her fingertips," Kovac said. "Maren should be celebrating at her prom this evening with her friends and classmates. Instead we are mourning her death and we are trying as a community to understand the senseless loss of life."

Among her many roles at the high school, Sanchez had served as class president, manager of the swim and softball teams and a member of the drama club. Last year she won the school's talent show with a rendition of "Home'' by Phillip Phillips.

"She was the most beautiful person I knew," Annalyse Rose DeLucca, 16, said. "She had a very big heart. She never let anybody feel left out. Every time I saw her she had a smile on her face."

The suspect will be formally arraigned in Juvenile Court in New Haven on Monday. A knife was recovered from the scene, the authorities said.

The suspect's lawyer did not respond to a message seeking comment.

Instead of attending the prom, students of the junior class, wearing their tuxedos and dresses, joined hundreds of others Friday evening for a memorial on Walnut Beach in Milford. At one point, a man told the crowd to shout the two words that came to mind about Sanchez.

"Best Friend!"

"Great Smile!"

Then 20 purple balloons were released into the air.

When the group broke up, young men in black, gray and white tuxedos marched down the beach followed by young women in peach, turquoise, crimson and black dresses. They walked to the end of a long pier and clustered again, above a pewter sea.

They shouted in unison: "Maren!" 

(Nate Schweber reported from Milford, Conn., and Michael Schwirtz from New York. Alison Leigh Cowan, Matthew Lloyd-Thomas, Marc Santora and Kirsten S)