Candlelight vigil to honor memory of North Port girl
By ERIN BRYCE
NORTH PORT -- A month and a half after 6-year-old Coralrose Fullwood was found dead two blocks from her North Port home, community members will honor the slain girl Friday at a candlelight vigil.
Tammy Webster, a single mother of four, said she felt compelled to reach out to the family after Coralrose's death. Webster asked the city this week if she could host the vigil in front of the Fullwood's Calabash Lane home.
North Port police agreed to patrol the streets during the vigil to help with lighting and traffic control.
"I've got a 6-year-old daughter," Webster said. "If something like that was to happen, I sure hope somebody would stand by my side and acknowledge my daughter."
Since Coralrose's death, the Fullwood family has been splintered. Ellen-Beth and Dale Fullwood's four youngest children were taken by state Department of Children and Families officials. A court placed the children in the care of their grandparents in Fort Myers.
Meanwhile, Dale Fullwood is facing two possession of child











charges after investigators say they discovered two videos downloaded on his computer. He is being held in the Sarasota County Jail on $50,000 bail.
Webster said she was not certain whether Ellen-Beth Fullwood will be at the vigil. The children's mother, who has moved back into the Calabash Lane home, has refused all interview requests.
Webster said she befriended Ellen-Beth Fullwood in the days following her husband's arrest on Oct. 11.
"She's hurting," Webster said. "She's hurting bad."
Already, the North Port community has honored Coralrose by creating a memorial of stuffed animals, framed poems, flowers and balloons. The memorial at first was placed at the crime scene where Coralrose was discovered. It was later moved to the front lawn of the family's home. Webster said she put the memorial inside a tent to protect it from the weather.
Webster said she's hoping to find a coral-colored rose bush to donate to the family. Coralrose's favorite song, "Dancing Queen," will be played as part of the ceremony. Poems will also be read in her memory, Webster said.
"If you live in a community that can't come together, that doesn't say much for the community," Webster said.
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