Funeral services were held Saturday for two toddlers who, police say, were killed by their mother about a week ago.
Ja'Karter Penn, 1, and 2-year-old Ke'Yaunte Penn, were laid to rest after services were held at West Hunter Street Baptist Church. The boys' father, Jameel Penn, has a 3-year-old boy.
Lamora Williams, 24, is charged in the childrens' murder.
"Jameel, you lost your babies," the pastor said. "And you got one in your arms right now. How many of us are going to be part of the village to help this man with a broken heart and a 3-year-old?"
This man is already part of that village.
Funeral director Willie Watkins donated the entire funeral service to the family for free. When he reached out to Southview Cemetery, they agreed to donate a plot, too.
"It's not actually what I decided to do," Watkins said. "It's what God laid on my heart."
He'll be humble when you ask him, but a eulogy by Dr. Martin Luther King's great nephew and a plot at the oldest black cemetery would have cost, in his words, "a nice piece of money."
But he says this is not about money -- it's about ministry.
"We, as a business, in the neighborhood, should give back to the family in their time of need," Watkins said.
Because of how they died, the boys could not be viewed, so Watkins wrapped the casket in pictures of the brothers, and all of their favorite super heroes.
And before a carriage of white horses took them away, their father bent down for one last kiss before he sent them home.
"One thing's for sure, they're in heaven," Watkins said. "Make no doubt about it."
