GONZALES - Marcus Allen walked into a crowd of open arms and hugs Saturday during a vigil for his daughter Nevaeh in his hometown at Gonzales Municipal Park.

"We want him to know that he has an army behind him every step of the way," Paige Goynes said.

Goynes and Denai Williams are lifelong friends of Nevaeh's father and organized the memorial for his daughter.

"We just want to show him that people do love him, and there's still good
people in the world," Williams said.

Nevaeh's name and face were on t-shirts, posters and balloons. Candles were lit and the almost one hundred in attendance joined in prayer before and after the balloons were released.

Allen's uncle Annie Allen traveled from New Orleans to be part of the memorial.

"It's beautiful that they came out to support my niece in these trying times, and support the family and show much love," Allen said.

Local rap artist Teflon Mark who had a special poster of the Nevaeh made
announced that he will pay for all of the 2-year-old's funeral costs.