Christina's Story: Newspaper Articles

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Christina's Story - Newspaper Articles

The following links take you to various articles in Christina's story as it appeared in the South Florida media.

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*In Loving Memory Of* Christina Diane Holt May 23, 1987 - September 16, 1994 "Beautiful Child who has found love from the angels...RIP..."	(Not her actual headstone)
These pages contain all of the articles from the Palm Beach Post and The Sun-Sentinel throughout the years.

John Zile Lashes Out At Wife In Court (11/29/94)
Christina's Body To Be Returned To Maryland (11/30/94)
Ziles' Two Sons Falling Through Cracks In The System (11/30/94)
A Young Girl's Tragic Journey Home (11/30/94)
Zile Children To Get Psychologist's Help To Deal With Loss (12/1/94)
Laws Protect Agency, Not Children (12/1/94)
Counseling Ordered For Ziles' Sons (12/1/94)
Pauline Zile To Stay Behind Bars (12/1/94)
Christina's Mom Sold Dead Girl's Videotapes (12/2/94)
Residents Bid Christina A Hometown Farewell (12/3/94)

JOHN ZILE LASHES OUT AT WIFE IN COURT
Miami Herald, The (FL)
November 29, 1994
Author: JUDY PLUNKETT EVANS Herald Staff Writer

John Zile, accused of killing his 7-year-old stepdaughter was hauled out of court in handcuffs Monday after yelling obscenities at his wife, who also is charged in the girl's murder.
John and Pauline Zile, charged with first-degree murder and aggravated child abuse in the death of Christina Holt, were in court because Pauline Zile's attorney had requested a bond hearing. Both Ziles have been held without bond since their arrests.

John Zile has told police he beat Christina until the little girl went into convulsions and died Sept. 16. Prosecutors said Monday that Pauline Zile also is charged in the murder because she watched the beating and did not help Christina or report the abuse. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for both Ziles.

Pauline Zile's attorney Ellis Rubin was reading from a letter his client had written to her husband when John Zile began screaming at his wife and cursing her.

In the letter, she said she had lost five children since she met him. Christina had died, their two sons had been taken away by the state after Christi-na's death, a fourth child was given up for adoption three weeks after Christina's death, and she said she also had had an abortion.

After Rubin read the part about the children, John Zile turned to his wife, seated 10 feet away. With his legs chained, he leaped from his seat and began yelling at her.

"I see a bunch of lies, that's what I see," he shouted. "You better get me out of here. I can't listen to this anymore. You better come f------ clean."

After Zile used the obscenity, Palm Beach Circuit Judge Stephen Rapp declared him in contempt of court. "I'm in contempt of court, what have I got to lose?" Zile responded, and he continued yelling at his wife.

"Tell them the g------ truth," he said. "You want to send me to the death chair because you want to f------ lie."

Even after he was handcuffed and surrounded by deputies, Zile continued screaming at his wife. When Rapp ordered him removed from the courtroom, he yelled to her, "I appreciate your love and concern for me. The end." Throughout the outburst, which lasted about two minutes, Pauline Zile looked at the floor and did not respond.

Rubin used the outburst to argue that John Zile controlled his wife, and she could do little to stop him the night Christina was killed. Rubin said Pauline Zile, who has been held since her arrest on Nov. 4, should be released pending her trial.

Rapp said he will take the bond issue under consideration and rule later. He also said he will hold a hearing to sentence John Zile for contempt of court. He could be sentenced to almost six months in jail for the contempt charge, his attorney said.

CHRISTINA'S BODY TO BE RETURNED TO MARYLAND
The Palm Beach Post
November 30, 1994
Author: CHRISTINE STAPLETON
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

Christina Holt will finally go home today.

The 7-year-old girl who had just started to call her stepfather ``Daddy'' will be flown to Maryland today. She will be buried on Saturday in a navy blue dress with pink and lavender flowers and a bow in the front. The family has asked that donations be sent to the Adam Walsh Foundation in lieu of flowers.
John Zile, charged with first-degree murder in his stepdaughter's death, is being held at the Palm Beach County Jail without bail. A judge will decide today whether to set bail for Pauline Zile, also charged with first-degree murder.

If freed on bail, Pauline Zile hopes to attend her daughter's funeral.

``I know she wants to go but I can't tell you whether she will or not,'' her attorney, Guy Rubin, said. If the judge sets bail that Pauline Zile cannot afford, her attorneys may ask the judge for a furlough to allow her to attend Christina's funeral, Rubin said.

Since police exhumed Christina's pajama-clad body on Oct. 27, it has remained at the Palm Beach County Medical Examiner's Office while experts hired by her parents' attorneys examined it. John Zile confessed to beating the girl and burying her behind a Tequesta shopping center.

Christina spent most of her life living with her great-grandparents, Dorothy and Ray Money, in Poolsville, Md., after her 16-year-old mother, Pauline Zile, decided to move to Florida without the baby.

Because of health problems, the Moneys reluctantly gave custody of the girl to their daughter, Judith Holt, Christina's paternal grandmother in 1992.

In June, Holt decided to return her granddaughter to the girl's mother, Pauline Zile. Although the reunion was planned, the Ziles did not expect Christina so soon and Pauline, pregnant at that time, complained to friends and family about her daughter.

The family that raised Christina is now at odds over her funeral arrangements. The Moneys preferred a funeral service at their church, led by a minister there whom Christina, unable to pronounce ``preacher,'' called ``peach.''

Holt, who had legal custody of Christina, has planned the funeral at her church. She did not return phone calls on Tuesday.

``Judy is handling the whole thing; she won't let my mom do a thing,'' said Brenda Money, Christina's great aunt. ``I wanted her back here safely. Justice will be served through God.''

ZILES' TWO SONS FALLING THROUGH CRACKS IN SYSTEM
Sun-Sentinel
November 30, 1994
Author: MAREGO ATHANS Staff Writer

Christina Holt's half brothers have waited a month for access to a psychologist to help them work through the beating death of their sister.

Daniel, 5, and Chad, 3, are the forgotten victims of a legal system that requires a court order or parental consent before children in state custody can get psychological help.
"You and I have had a chance to grieve and talk about Christina's death; her schoolmates have had an opportunity to talk with counselors.

"Everybody in the damn state has had a chance to grieve and be debriefed about Christina Holt's death, except her brothers," said Dr. George Rahaim Jr., psychologist for the Child Protection Team.

The team consults with the state Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services on child abuse.

"There's every reason to believe there's an emergency," he said.

Today, 2 1/2 months after Christina died and one month after her stepfather, John Zile, confessed to the killing, a court hearing is scheduled to decide whether the boys can get treatment that medical professionals decided they needed a month ago.

Exactly why it has taken so long to get before a judge is unclear. In emergencies, judges hear cases within 24 hours. Citing confidentiality laws, officials from HRS, which has temporary custody of the boys, would not say when they requested a court order, or whether they sought an emergency hearing.

Alfred Zucaro, the attorney representing the children's guardian ad litem, said he filed a request for a hearing almost two weeks ago, on Nov. 18.

"We've done everything we could as quickly as we could," HRS spokeswoman Beth Owen said. "The judge sets the date."

Owen would not comment on whether John or Pauline Zile, also charged in Christina's killing, objected to their children seeing a psychologist.

She said only: "If parents don't consent, you have to get a court order. Parents have rights. They're still the parents."

The Ziles' attorneys did not return calls seeking comment.

But experts involved with the case say it's a glaring example of a problem that creeps up too often: A child's need for psychological help gets tangled in a pending criminal case involving the parents.

Daniel and Chad, for instance, could sit in the psychologist's chair and incriminate their parents, though their statements wouldn't necessarily be allowed as evidence in the Ziles' murder case.

"Whenever you have a high profile case, everybody runs out and immediately gets an attorney," said Judy Thompson, executive director of the Center for Children in Crisis. "That makes it difficult to proceed with any kind of assistance for kids because there are a lot of people involved."

"We forget that the house is burning down," Rahaim said.

A month ago, the Child Protection Team's medical director examined the boys and recommended they see a pyschologist immediately. Medical screening is allowed without a judge's order.

"This was obviously a very traumatic event. I felt this warranted immediate psychological assessment," said the doctor, Philip Colaizzo.

The appointment was set for about a week later but then was canceled because of legal problems: There was no court order.

"My understanding was that HRS canceled it. Right now, it's such a high profile case, everyone's afraid to breathe," Colaizzo said.

Scott Cupp, the Ziles murder case prosecutor and chief of the state attorney's Crimes Against Children unit, said, "Based on what I've been told ... the system appears to be failing these children at this point. If it is true that these children are not receiving any treatment, it's appalling."

Rahaim said he worries that the children suffered stress that could turn into Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

"The longer you wait to treat it, the worse the disorder is," he said. "That's what happens to guys coming back from Vietnam. They didn't talk about it, and months later they had a hideous problem."

Daniel and Chad have been in temporary foster care since Oct. 27, when their parents were arrested. The couple are fighting the state's efforts to end their parental rights and put the children up for adoption.

Statements the children made to police indicate they witnessed John Zile beating Christina, and possibly her killing. For more than a month after Christina died, the Ziles pretended she was behind her closed bedroom door, John Zile told police.

Colaizzo and Rahaim say they're trying to work with all the agencies that deal with children to work out a solution.

"It has to become the normal routine for children who are in shelter to see a psychologist quickly," Rahaim said. "Whether we need emergency orders, or to change the law, we just have to do it quickly. Once you enter the legal arena, the children become less important than the case.

"Aren't [Chad and Daniel) the most important people now? Shouldn't we put all our caring and hope into them? Yet they appear to be forgotten."

A YOUNG GIRL'S TRAGIC JOURNEY HOME
Miami Herald, The (FL)
November 30, 1994
Author: DAVID KIDWELL Herald Staff Writer

One month after police gingerly lifted her decomposing body out of a makeshift grave in Tequesta, the remains of 7- year-old Christina Holt were released to family members Tuesday for the flight home.
Funeral services are tentatively set for Saturday in Poolesville, Md., where Christina lived most of her life.

"All this waiting has been just awful for all of us here," said Dorothy Money, Christina's great-grandmother. "I'm glad she's finally on her way home."

Christina was the focus of a nationwide search last month after her mother and stepfather fabricated a tale of child abduction. In truth, she had died more than a month earlier after being beaten by her stepfather John Zile.

He and Pauline Zile, the girl's mother, are charged with first-degree murder and face the death penalty in connection with Christina's death.

On Tuesday morning, Christina's body was taken to Quattlebaum Funeral Home in West Palm Beach, where it was prepared for burial, said director Greg Quattlebaum. At 8:30 a.m. today, it will be driven to Palm Beach County International Airport for an 11 a.m. flight to Baltimore, he said.

Arrangements in Poolesville are being handled by Robert Pumphrey Funeral Home. Services will be at Memorial United Methodist Church.

Relatives and family friends say they have received hundreds of cards and offers to help pay for the funeral from around the country.

"It's been overwhelming, it really has," said Winnie
Garrett, who works in the same shopping mall as Christina's grandmotherJudy Holt. "It's been very difficult on the whole family. It's going to be a relief to everyone to see her finally get a proper burial."

Garrett, who established a fund to help defray funeral expenses, said 200 to 300 people have sent money and raised thousands more than the funeral will cost.

"I've got a whole folder full of cards and letters I keep forwarding to the family," she said. "We heard from all over around here, but from as far away as Florida, Texas, North Carolina and Washington, D.C. We've gotten donations ranging
from $1 to $500."

Garrett would not say how much has been donated, but she said anything left after the funeral will be donated to the Adam Walsh Center, a Lake Park foundation established to help search for missing children and support their families.

Last month, the Adam Walsh Center circulated fliers with Christina's photograph after John and Pauline Zile reported the girl missing Oct. 22 from a restroom stall at the Fort Lauderdale Swap Shop.

The search lasted five days, until the couple caved in under police questioning and admitted Christina had been beaten to death in their Riviera Beach motel apartment more than a month earlier. John Zile said he was angry at Christina for soiling her pants and for playing sexually oriented games with his 3-year-old son.

Zile also said he wrapped Christina's body in sheets and a tarp and stored it in the bedroom closet for nearly four days until he found a place to bury her, behind a Kmart in Tequesta.

Zile led police to the grave site in the early morning hours of Oct. 28.

ZILE CHILDREN TO GET PSYCHOLOGIST'S HELP TO DEAL WITH LOSS
The Palm Beach Post
December 1, 1994
Author: CHRISTINE STAPLETON
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

In the past 11 weeks, David and Chad Zile - ages 5 and 3 - lost their half-sister, their parents and their home but never received counseling to deal with their losses.

A judge Wednesday ordered a psychologist to examine the boys and counsel them if necessary.
``Children, right after a serious trauma, should get some kind of psychological counseling right away,'' said psychologist George Rahaim, who will examine the boys. ``The sooner you can get to someone after a serious trauma, the more likely you can prevent lasting harm.''

The boys' parents, John and Pauline Zile, have been charged with first-degree murder in the Sept. 16 death of Christina Holt, Pauline Zile's 7-year-old daughter. The couple appeared in court together Wednesday, two days after John Zile shouted threats at his wife in another hearing.

The hearing was closed, but attorneys for the Ziles said the couple did not argue in court.

The state Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services placed the boys in a foster home after Paul-ine Zile was arrested Nov. 4. The agency also has filed court papers seeking to terminate the Ziles' parental rights.

Al Zucaro, an attorney for a court-appointed guardian, asked for a psychological examination several weeks ago, but legal loopholes in the law regarding foster children prevented the exam.

Florida law allows foster children to receive immediate medical care, but psychological care must be ordered by a judge or agreed to by the parents. The Ziles wanted counseling for their sons but declined to give their consent because they disagreed with a petition filed by HRS.

``I think the whole world assumed they were getting counseling, and they're not,'' Zucaro said. ``It's not in the children's best interest to not get counseling.''

Counseling is crucial for the boys because they may be called as witnesses in their parents' case, Zucaro said. A psychologist would then have to determine whether the boys are competent to testify, he said.

Zucaro also wants to determine why David, 5, has a speech impediment.

``We don't know if it's a physical malady or a result of exposure to events in this case,'' Zucaro said. ``We don't know what they've been exposed to, but when you read the criminal case you have to wonder.''

The Ziles told police their sons were sleeping when Christina died after John Zile hit her. The boys were not allowed into the bedroom where John Zile said he stashed Christina's body in a closet, the couple told police.

The Ziles told police they burned incense so the boys would not smell Christina's body.

Also Wednesday, a judge denied bail for Pauline Zile. Her attorneys argued that she had tried to prevent her husband from hitting Christina and cited a neighbor who told police she heard a woman screaming, ``Stop it, John, that's enough,'' the day of Christina's death.

Pauline Zile's attorney said he might appeal the decision but will not ask a judge for a furlough to allow Zile to attend her daughter's funeral Saturday in Maryland.

Christina's body was flown to Maryland on Wednesday.

LAWS PROTECT AGENCY, NOT CHILDREN
Sun-Sentinel
December 1, 1994

The state Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services itself seems to be the prime beneficiary of the much-vaunted "confidentiality laws" deemed necessary for the protection of the children in its care.

In fact, it has become increasingly evident that the children in HRS custody would be best served by widspread and ongoing publication of their circumstances. If outraged public opinion could be brought to bear on this persistently bungling agency, perhaps Christina Holt's half brothers - ages 5 and 3 - would not still be waiting for psychological counseling.
As it is, the two little boys who are believed to have seen 7-year-old Christina beaten to death two and one-half months ago by their father have not yet met with a psychologist, even though medical professionals described such a meeting as urgent more than a month ago. And HRS, citing "confidentiality laws" for its refusal to say when - or if - such counseling was sought for the boys, continues to build its reputation as a slender straw indeed for children at risk.

How can Florida legislators go to Tallahassee and concern themselves with gender-neutral statutes and state pies while defenseless children like Daniel and Chad Zile remain suspended in bureaucratic limbo? Not only are these children the forgotten victims of grossly failed parenthood, but they are the forgotten victims of an agency whose only known mission is the ludicrous "reunification" of children with their abusers.

HRS always says it is obeying the law, and it probably is. But if there are laws that say John and Pauline Zile can block their children from seeing a psychologist, the laws should be changed. If there are laws that let HRS give the "confidentiality" run-around to a child's guardian ad litem and everybody else, the laws should be changed.

If the psychological needs of two traumatized little boys can now be neglected while lawyers wrangle over a pending criminal case involving their parents, lawmakers should enact legislation that will prevent it from happening in the future.

Indeed, if this is the abominable treatment afforded to children in a high-profile case like the Ziles', it is frightening to imagine the horrible status of children in HRS custody whose names are not in the newspaper every day.

No matter what happens in their trials for first-degree murder and aggravated child-abuse, Pauline and John Zile have proven to be criminally unfit parents. Daniel and Chad need counseling because of it. They need to be far away from Pauline and John Zile in a safe, permanent and loving home. They need it all now.

And HRS needs a whole new mission in which children's welfare gets top billing.

COUNSELING ORDERED FOR ZILES' SONS
Sun-Sentinel
December 1, 1994
Author: STEPHANIE SMITH Staff Writer
Staff Writer Jill Young Miller contributed to this report.

A judge ordered psychological counseling on Wednesday for the half-brothers of Christina Holt, more than 11 weeks after her death and a month after their father confessed to killing his 7-year-old stepdaughter.

Another judge, meanwhile, denied bail for the boys' mother, Pauline Zile, accused of first-degree murder along with her husband, John Zile, in Christina's killing.
Pauline Zile wanted to attend Christina's funeral on Saturday in Poolsville, Md., the home of Christina's great-grandmother, where Christina will finally get a proper funeral.

Until a month ago, the child's body - wrapped in a plastic tarpaulin and bound by duct tape - lay buried in a sandy, vacant lot in Tequesta, where police said her stepfather had buried her.

Christina's half-brothers, Daniel,5, and Chad,3, have been in temporary foster care for the month since their parents were charged with first-degree murder, but they had yet to have access to psychological counseling.

"They're in serious, serious trauma and they should get some psychiatric intervention right away," said Dr. George Rahaim Jr., a psychologist for the Child Protection Team.

Because the children are in legal limbo, assigned to foster care while the Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services tries to end the Ziles' parental rights, they could not receive psychological treatment without a court order.

"[Daniel and Chad Zile) lived in an apartment with their dead sister's corpse for several days, with a bad smell in the apartment - of course they're going to be traumatized," Rahaim said after the closed court hearing on Wednesday.

John Zile said in his confession that he kept Christina's body in the closet for four days while he figured out how to dispose of it. He and his wife burned incense to disguise the odor in their cramped, one-bedroom motel apartment in Singer Island.

In his confession, John Zile said he thought Chad and Daniel were too young to know what happened.

"They'd say something about her, like where is she at, and I'd say she's in her room, you know. So basically, the month that she was gone we tried to make it appear that she was there. They didn't go in the room, and if they did, we'd just say that she was out, she was out playing or something," John Zile told police.

But court records reveal the boys knew something bad had occurred. Daniel, the older boy, told police there was "big trouble in bedroom" and "dadda locks door of bathroom with Christina there," court records said.

Both of the Ziles are fighting HRS' attempts to end their rights as parents of the two boys. Since their arrest, the Ziles have been in contact with their sons, but only through letters, John Zile's attorney said.

HRS wants to put the boys up for adoption.

Christina will be buried in Rockville, Md., after 11 a.m. funeral services at United Methodist Church in Poolesville, Md. Dorothy Money, the girl's great-grandmother, has asked that donations be sent to the Adam Walsh Foundation in lieu of flowers.

"Thank Florida from the Money family because they sure have been kind to us," she said on Wednesday. Many people have called to express sympathy to Money, with whom Christina had lived until she was 5.

Guy Rubin, who with his father, Ellis, is defending Pauline Zile, said he would not seek a furlough for Zile to attend the funeral but may still appeal the bail denial. He said there is nothing that directly ties Pauline Zile to her daughter's death and that prosecutors cannot back up a charge of first-degree murder.

Christina's stepfather is accused of beating her to death on Sept. 12. Pauline Zile is accused of standing idly by, failing to protect Christina while she was struck on the face and buttocks. The child collapsed, went into convulsions and died of asphyxiation.

Because she failed to intervene, prosecutors contend Pauline Zile is equally as guilty as her husband.

Staff Writer Jill Young Miller contributed to this report.

PAULINE ZILE TO STAY BEHIND BARS
Miami Herald, The (FL)
December 1, 1994
Author: JUDY PLUNKETT EVANS Herald Staff Writer

Pauline Zile, charged with the abuse and murder of her 7- year-old daughter, will not be released on bond, a judge ruled Wednesday.

Zile has been held since her arrest Nov. 4; Wednesday's ruling means she cannot get out of jail until after her trial, scheduled for March.
Her husband John Zile also is charged with the first-degree murder and aggravated child abuse in Christina Holt's death. John Zile, who has confessed to beating Christina until she went into convulsions and died, has not asked for bond.

Pauline Zile's attorneys argued she should be released because prosecutors cannot prove she abused Christina. Defense attorney Ellis Rubin, using a profane outburst by John Zile in court on Monday, also argued that Pauline Zile could do little to stop her husband the night Christina died.

The Ziles were in court again Wednesday for a hearing involving their two sons, Daniel, 5, and Chad, 3. The state is trying to permanently remove the boys from their parents' care, based on Christina's death. The children have been in foster care since their father's arrest Oct. 28.

A guardian ad litem for the boys asked the court to order psychological evaluations for Daniel and Chad because they may have seen something relating to Christina's death or may have been traumatized by her loss. Palm Beach Circuit Judge Karen Martin agreed to the request and ordered that the boys receive counseling if the evaluations show it is necessary.

"The parents were not opposed to the evaluations," said Michelle Migdal, John Zile's attorney in the custody case.

Christina's body was flown to Maryland on Wednesday. She will be buried Saturday in Poolesville, Md.

CHRISTINA'S MOM SOLD DEAD GIRL'S VIDEOTAPES
The Palm Beach Post
December 2, 1994
Author: CHRISTINE STAPLETON
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer

Two weeks after her daughter's death, Pauline Zile - nine months pregnant - went to the bar where she had gone before to drink and complain about her daughter, Christina Holt, and sold the dead girl's favorite videotapes, according to court records released Thursday.

``She had said to me that Christina was nothing but trouble,'' bartender Helen Kurynka told investigators. ``She just said that she was a spoiled rotten brat.''
Pauline Zile, 24, had gone to the Crown and Anchor Bar before, while she was pregnant, and had a few drinks but ``she didn't come in here and get drunk,'' Kurynka told investigators. Kurynka couldn't remember what kind of drinks Pauline Zile had, but recalled that they were alcoholic.

In 1989, Pauline Zile tested positive for marijuana when she delivered her son Daniel, according to police records released this week. Records from the Department of Health and Rehabilitative Services about the drug test have not been released, but HRS officials said Pauline Zile had probably been a patient at a public health clinic, where pregnant women are routinely screened for drug use.

Pauline and John Zile, 32, Christina's stepfather, have been charged with first-degree murder. Zile told police that the girl went into convulsions after he hit her on Sept. 16. He buried her four days later behind a shopping center in Tequesta. The Ziles told police that Pauline Zile did not participate in the beating but prosecutors believe she is guilty because she did not stop her husband.

A neighbor who heard the fatal beating told police she heard a woman yelling: ``Stop it, John, that's enough.''

Pauline Zile took her daughter's tapes to the bar and sold them for $1 each, saying the family did not have room to store the 70 tapes, including The Wizard of Oz and Charlotte's Web.

RESIDENTS TO BID CHRISTINA A HOMETOWN FAREWELL
Miami Herald, The (FL)
December 3, 1994
Author: DAVID KIDWELL Herald Staff Writer

Residents of this small, friendly town nestled in Maryland's rolling hills watched helplessly from a distance as Christina Holt's tragic story unfolded.
Today it comes home.

The 4,000 souls of Poolesville will say goodbye to the murdered hometown girl in a 1917 red brick Methodist church whose leaders have had to dust off its folding chairs to make room for hundreds of expected mourners.

"There's one of those collapsible-type walls we sometimes have to take down so everyone can fit for Christmas service," said Emma Ridgeway, Memorial United Methodist Church secretary and Christina's former Sunday school teacher. "It's already been done for the funeral. I expect most of the town to be there."

Seven-year-old Christina Holt was killed Sept. 16 by her stepfather at the family's Riviera Beach motel apartment. She had been the subject of an intense search following a bogus tale of child abduction concocted by her mother and stepfather.

Off-duty police have been hired for crowd control for today's funeral. Television trucks have been asked to park away
from the church, already faced with an unprecedented traffic and parking problem.

The 11 a.m. church service will be followed by a 30-mile trip to the grave site at the family cemetery in neighboring Rockville.

"I don't know where everyone is going to park," said the Rev. Lewis McDonald. "We've never had anything like this before.

"Christina was very much loved. And even with the people who never met her, there's a lot of loyalty in this town."

Christina grew up here, living first with her great- grandmother, Dorothy Money, and then her grandmother, Judy Holt.

Her first-grade music teacher, Bill Harris, will sing at today's service.

She went to day care at the town's only center. The kids, the parents, the teachers -- many say they all will be at the service. Almost everyone will be there, from the town clerk to the waitresses at Leo's Place.

The church seats 275, maybe 280.

"I expect they'll be standing in the aisles," McDonald said.

The people of Poolesville -- once a farming town turned bedroom community to Washington, D.C., a 45-minute drive through rolling hills -- have raised thousands to help pay for the funeral.

It likely will be the biggest this town has ever seen. The one person who wants to be there, but won't, is Christina's mother, Pauline Zile.

She remains in a Palm Beach County jail along with her husband, Christina's stepfather, John Zile. The two -- who took custody of Christina from Poolesville relatives last June -- are charged with first-degree murder in her beating death.

John Zile, 32, said he beat Christina after he caught her fondling his 3-year-old son. He kept the body in the apartment's bedroom closet for four days while he searched for a grave site. More than a month later, John and Pauline Zile tried to cover the crime by claiming Christina had been abducted from a restroom at the Fort Lauderdale Swap Shop.