Ebony Nicole Dorsey, 14, remembered

Fourteen-year-old Ebony Nicole Dorsey was remembered for her smile, how she loved to practice her dancing in the school hallways, as a loyal friend who would greet everyone with "Hey, Boo," and as a loving and caring daughter.

At her funeral today, mourners filled the Wissahickon High School auditorium in Ambler to pay their respects to the freshman honor student.

Dorsey was allegedly beaten, sexually assaulted and strangled by Mark P. O'Donnell, her mother's boyfriend, while she was babysitting his 4-year-old daughter last week. He has been charged with her murder.

Her body was found last Sunday in a blue, plastic tub concealed under sticks and leaves outside the Montgomery county home of one of O'Donnell's relatives. Dorsey was last seen the night of Dec. 6, when O'Donnell drove her to his home to babysit.

O'Donnell had been smoking crack cocaine with Dorsey's mother, Danielle Cattie, that night and returned to his home early the next morning to find Dorsey changing the toddler's diapers. He flew into a rage and allegedly killed the teen.

A slideshow of photos on a large auditorium screen showed Dorsey as a baby, young child, and teen clowning for the camera with family and friends.

Her closed, white casket was covered with a bouquet of red and white flowers and framed by more floral displays and photos.

"Ebony always made me proud," said Evan Dorsey, the teen's father. He called the past week the "darkest" of his life.

Dorsey, who wanted to become an artist, dreamed of attending Villanova University, where her father works. A prayer service will be held Wednesday at the university for the campus community.

Contact staff writer Mari A. Schaefer at 610-892-9149 or mschaefer@phillynews.com.