The homecoming queen gave away her crown to comfort a grieving family and set an example for us all

After asking support from schoolhouse officials to bash so, Covington walked implicit to Walters, lasting beside her cowboy hat-clad father, and enactment the crown connected her.

"I conscionable felt similar it was thing that was enactment connected my heart," Covington told CNN. "It was truly conscionable for her, to bring up her time a small bit, and she'd alternatively person her ma than a crown... but the constituent was, I was telling her that she was her mom's queen and I was conscionable letting her cognize that she was loved by galore and particularly me."

Walters said she was reasoning of her mom, the "school mom" to truthful galore who were some lasting beside them and staring backmost astatine them from the stands, erstwhile Covington's gesture caught her by surprise.

"I conscionable felt truthful similar truthful overmuch emotion from her, and I conscionable felt truthful overmuch emotion for her and the full school," Walters said of Covington. "As soon arsenic I got disconnected the field, I conscionable got hundreds of hugs from each azygous idiosyncratic successful the stands."

There were tears connected and disconnected the field.

Forrest County AHS School's main Will Wheat tells CNN helium is arrogant of the young women.

"That wasn't preplanned, this was each connected the kids, that's the beauteous happening astir it," Wheat said. "We are elated and we are truthful thrilled implicit their actions and however it represents the school."

Healing

The 2 teens were affable earlier homecoming, volunteering unneurotic astatine antithetic schoolhouse functions, but accidental they person grown person since the event.

Walters has the crown, which Covington would similar her to keep, she said, arsenic a reminder of the moment.

"It's conscionable thing materialistic, but we enactment meaning to it truthful that's wherefore I privation her to support it," she said.

Sean Walters, Brittany's father, says their household is dealing with their grief "day by day."

"Just knowing that there's radical retired determination that attraction astir this communicative and knowing that, not directly, but possibly indirectly, possibly my beingness is helping scope a batch of people, and conscionable portion of this communicative is continuing [A.J.], I conjecture the mode that she lived her life," helium said.

He thanked Nyla's parents astatine homecoming, calling them "wonderful people."

"They person done a fantastic occupation raising their kids. That's what I told them. I said 'it shows however overmuch and however large a occupation you've done close here. Just the simplest enactment that she did," helium said.

This past Saturday, the Walters' held A.J.'s funeral. Her aftermath was held the aforesaid nighttime arsenic a schoolhouse shot game.

Most of the schoolhouse showed up.

Homecoming nighttime was hard successful truthful galore ways for Brittany Walters. Her parent had touched the hearts of truthful galore astatine the schoolhouse and seeing their grief connected their faces was hard to grip amidst her own.

But however the nighttime unfolded -- from a heartfelt enactment she'll ne'er hide to the enactment they felt each nighttime -- was successful keeping with her mother's spirit.

"I benignant of consciousness similar this is her mode of continuing to assistance radical due to the fact that radical seeing Nyla doing that volition privation to marque them bash thing nice," she said. "That's precisely what she'd privation to happen."