People remember 3-year-old victim during memorial

GRESHAM, Ore. - More than anything else, his easy, cheeky smile is what family friends remembered about Christopher Robin Peraza on Saturday at a memorial service.

Three-year-old Christopher's body was found two weeks ago in an abandoned house after a 16-day search. Police have charged his mother's boyfriend, Robert K. McCann, with aggravated murder.

"Christopher, for the short time you were with us, you found a way to our hearts," said Kimberly Wagner, a family friend.

About 110 people came to the memorial service at Bateman Carroll Funeral Chapel. Many had never met Christopher. The soundtrack from "The Lion King" played as they filed into the pews and walked past an altar surrounded by stuffed animals and toy cars.

His mother, Beriane Vidal, sat in the front row and sobbed, her head resting on a friend's shoulder.

Christopher was so full of energy he "could make the Energizer Bunny tired," said Pastor Steve Keels of Good Shepherd Community Church. The boy liked to wrestle with his mother's friends, and he liked Taco Bell so much that he'd tug at the steering wheel whenever he went past one.

A video tribute showed him celebrating his first birthday with white frosting smeared across his face.

Tink Bell, 16, arrived more than three hours before the service began. She had known Christopher for about a year. She brought a single red rose, the happiest gift she could think of.

"I've never seen a little boy who could wake up every day and not have a bad day," she said. "He was always happy, always smiling. This is supposed to be a happy thing, that he's gone to a better place.

"But I can't even cry anymore, I've cried so much."

McCann's first court date is Nov. 9. Police say he tortured and beat Christopher to death because the boy was interfering in his relationship with Vidal. He has pleaded not guilty.

The funeral home and Forest Lawn Memorial Park will cover the funeral charges, including the casket. The family is trying to raise enough money for a headstone. A memorial fund at Washington Mutual banks has raised about $1,200. Christopher will be buried in a private ceremony this week.

Jerome Crawford, 54, came to the memorial service alone. He sat in a back pew, wiping his eyes. He didn't know Christopher, but he has a 2-year-old grandson.

"It just kind of reminded me, `What if something like this happened to my grandson?' " he said. "I just don't understand why, at such a young age, things have to happen like this. He didn't even have a chance to live."