DETROIT — Students, faculty and staff of Detroit Cristo Rey High School all attended the Sept. 27 funeral of slain Cristo Rey student Illeana Cuevas at Ste. Anne de Detroit Church in southwest Detroit.

The 15-year-old sophomore died Sept. 22 when a man fired multiple shots into a car in which she was a passenger on Martin near Michigan Avenue. An older sister, Roselyn Cuevas, and her boyfriend, Tommy Vega, as well as a 25-year-old man who may have been standing outside the car talking with the occupants, were also hospitalized with gunshot wounds.

The shooter, who is said to have emerged from a vacant house and began firing at the car, remained at large as of Oct. 2.

Illeana was “a very lovely young lady,” said Mike Khoury, president of Detroit Cristo Rey, the innovative work-study high school that now occupies the former Holy Redeemer High School building on West Vernor Highway near Junction Avenue.

“She had kind of a bubbly personality — always smiling, always in good spirits. She was happy to be here, and we were happy to have her here,” Khoury said.

As part of Cristo Rey’s concept of improving students’ career prospects by having them work part-time while going to school, Cuevas had worked at All Saints Parish during her freshman year, and was set to begin working at William Beaumont Hospital in Royal Oak this fall.

“Just a few days before she died, she did a presentation to prospective students, telling them she was proud to be a Cristo Rey student, and how Cristo Rey was just what students needed to be prepared to go on to college,” Khoury said.

He said there had been an outpouring of sympathy and concern from the students and others in the Cristo Rey community, and the school made counselors available to help her fellow students cope with the tragedy.

The school had received commitments from some people to help the family with funeral experiences, and a scholarship fund has been created in her name to assist students committed to non-violence.

Contributions earmarked Illeana Cuevas Scholarship may be made to Detroit Cristo Rey High School, 5679 W. Vernor Hwy., Detroit 48209-2157.