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Fergus Falls, Minn. (AP) ― Two-year-old Emily Lynn Johnson was remembered for her joy and enthusiasm at her funeral Friday, days after this town was shocked by the news that a local teen had been charged with killing her at a daycare.

More than 400 people filled Bethlehem Lutheran Church for Johnson, who died last Saturday of injuries she suffered June 16. After an autopsy, authorities said she had been assaulted. A 13-year-old boy was arrested Tuesday and charged with second-degree manslaughter.

Pastor Kate Bruns recalled Emily, the only child of Travis and Lynn Johnson, of Fergus Falls, as a girl who was never satisfied to walk, so she always ran.

"Her energy, her enthusiasm, her laughter, her loving and caring, she embodied these words of Jesus, 'I came that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete,"' Bruns said in her sermon. "And Emily was full of joy. She had something to teach us about experiencing and expressing joy."

Bruns opened with words from the book of Isaiah, "A little child shall lead them." The prelude music was a CD that Emily's parents had put together of her favorite children's songs. On her casket was a small spray of flowers that included several Sesame Street characters, and a bunch of acorns, because Emily loved to throw acorns in the lake.

"So there was a whimsicalness about parts of the service," Bruns said in an interview afterward. "Deadly serious, and lots of tears, but also a certain amount of, just, joy."

The lobby of the church was filled with displays of photographs of Emily, as well as flowers and toys such as cans of Play-Doh and more Sesame Street figures.

Bruns said the Fergus Falls community hasn't faced this kind of tragedy before, one that involves such young children from two families.

"Shock, disbelief, it's never happened before and we don't know how to react," she said. "We grieve for both families that are involved in this."

The pastor said knowing what happened to Emily has been "healing in itself, but still the comment, 'She didn't have to die,' is really heart-rending."

But she said it's not clear why the girl was allegedly attacked. "May we'll never know," Bruns said.

Emily's parents have declined to speak to reporters. Bruns said they would name a family spokesman sometime later.

The Johnson family has many friends and relatives who've rallied around them, Bruns said. At least as many people as attended Emily's funeral Friday turned out for visitation and a prayer service at the funeral home Thursday evening, she said.

Travis Johnson is a native of Fergus Falls and has deep family roots in the area. He moved back a few years ago to teach math at Fergus Falls Middle School. The Johnsons are active in the community and the church, she said.

Emily was taken to Lake Region Hospital in Fergus Falls after her day care provider was unable to wake her from a nap, and was later transferred to MeritCare Hospital in Fargo, N.D.

During a "terrible weekend," as it became clear there was no hope, the Johnsons were forced to make the wrenching decision to take Emily off life support, their pastor said.

Bruns said she understood that Emily loved going to the in-home day care center, "and she hated to come home at night. There was no indication to the family that anything like this could ever have happened."

The day care providers have not commented publicly.

Authorities have said little about the events that led to Emily's death, except that the evidence pointed to an assault. Assistant Otter Tail County Attorney Michelle Eldien said Thursday that under the law, she couldn't disclose the facts behind the charge, and that the eventual outcome of the case against the 13-year-old will remain confidential.

Under state law, the elements of second-degree manslaughter involve consciously taking an unreasonable risk of causing death, or child endangerment or neglect that results in death.

The teen remained in a juvenile facility pending a hearing next week.

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