Memorial honors three killed by their mother in Tabernacle

Family and friends of the three children whose mother shot and killed them two weeks ago in Burlington County gathered Saturday at a memorial service to remember the siblings.

Visitors came to the Holy Eucharist Catholic Church in Tabernacle, a rural community of 7,000 where the Harriman children - Nicholas, 14; Alexander, 11; and Nadia, 8 - grew up. School photos of the smiling children were displayed with the cremation urns and bouquets of white flowers.

Beside them were the children's maternal grandmother, Maureen LePage, and aunt Jill LePage. Friends and residents whose children attended school with the Harrimans stood in line before sharing words, one by one, and embracing the family.

"This is closure for them," Joe DeLuca, a deacon at the Tabernacle church, said of the relatives. "And they need it."

A Funeral Mass was planned for after the memorial.

Among those expressing condolences was Brittany Goldy, 15, who attends Seneca High School, where Nicholas was a freshman.

She told the family she was sorry for their loss and embraced them, she said. Students, she said, are still shocked by the sudden deaths of the Harriman children, who were well known in the community.

A separate ceremony will be held later for Jeannine LePage, 44, who police said shot the children in her bed Nov. 20 before turning the gun on herself.

Nicholas and Nadia were pronounced dead at the scene. Alexander and LePage died days later at Cooper University Hospital in Camden.

LePage's brother, Michael; his wife, Jill; and their two children also live in the house. Police said they did not hear the gunshots because LePage muffled them with a pillow.

Volunteers have helped Michael and Jill LePage since the shooting, sprucing up the outside of their home on Holly Park Drive with mulch and Christmas decorations. Michael and Jill LePage are members of Holy Eucharist Catholic Church.