Morrisville murder victim, a woman ‘full of life and full of love,’ laid to rest amid smiles and tears

TRENTON — The 11 years separating Keya Smith from her sister Naa’Irah were never an obstacle to their relationship.

They were part of “Ron’s Fabulous Five,” Smith said Tuesday, an affectionate family nickname for the sisters. Even when Smith relocated to Georgia, she stayed close with Naa’Irah, watching her grow into a woman whose “smile and dimples” were always present before the 25-year-old was found slain, along with four other family members, inside a Bucks County apartment last month.

“She was beautiful inside and out,” Smith said from a pulpit inside Shiloh Baptist Church in New Jersey’s capital.

“I know I’m supposed to watch over all of my sisters … but the only way I can get over this is if I have an angel, and I know she’s up there, watching over us,” she added, fighting back tears.

The memory of Naa’Irah Smith, 25, was honored by more than 100 people during a tear- and laughter-filled funeral service Tuesday. The budding cosmetologist — known as “Nay Nay” to loved ones — was honored by family from across the country, some of whom flew in to pay their respects.

“We’re here for all the relatives of the family whose lives were tragically taken. We’re here for every member of this family that is grieving. We’re here for every member of the family whose mind is discombobulated trying to comprehend what happened,” said the Rev. Darrell Larue Armstrong, adding that "across the river, the unthinkable happened.”

The bodies of Smith and four others were found Feb. 25 inside a unit in the Robert Morris Apartments in Morrisville, across the Delaware River from Trenton. Investigators in Bucks County say Smith was killed alongside her younger brother, Damon Decree Jr., 13; her aunt Jamillah Campbell, 42; and twin cousins Imani and Erika Allen, both 9.

Smith’s mother, Shana Decree, 46, and younger daughter Dominique Decree, 20, have been charged with the deaths. The two confessed to the killings, saying the group “wanted to die” and talked about suicide. How the five were killed remains unknown, and county officials said Tuesday that the results of the autopsies have yet to be finalized.

Few clues were left behind. In her final weeks, Smith withdrew from her family and her fiance, according to her father, Ronald. Her final communications with him were riddled with cryptic references to demons and “the pearly gates.”

But there was no talk of that Tuesday, the first funeral service for any of the victims. Relatives said the arrangements for the other four were pending.

Instead, kinder, gentler memories held the day, with photos of Smith as a baby, a young woman, and a high school graduate dominating a slideshow projected in the church. One of the photos was a selfie of Smith and Damon Decree smiling widely into the camera.

During the service, friends and relatives remembered Smith as they best knew her. Sheronda Smith, her aunt, spoke about how she talked with Naa’Irah on the phone every day from her home in Detroit. She bought an iPhone specifically for FaceTime sessions with her niece. Those long conversations covered everything from their workdays to how to prepare cornbread stuffing.

“We spent a lot of time lifting each other up. It gave me a sense of wholeness,” Smith said. “We have to figure out how to love each other and hug each other, because the phone isn’t enough.”

Smith, according to an obituary read during the service, was a graduate of Morrisville High School, and was one month away from graduating with a degree in aesthetics from the Bucks County College of Beauty Culture in Feasterville. She used her talents to “beautify others,” the obituary read, and was “just full of life and full of love.”

Those she helped beautify, her extended family and scores of friends, walked with her one final time Tuesday, some dressed in burgundy to match the gown Smith was buried in. Together, they rode to Ewing Cemetery and said their final goodbyes.