Slain Quebec girls were 'loving' and 'helpful'

More than 500 people gathered at a church in Laval for the funeral of two young girls found slain in their family home in Duvernay last week.

Amanda Giovanna, 9, and her sister Sabrina Angela, 8, were found dead in their opulent home on March 31.

'The only thing I can think about is their smiles, and their willingness to help others.' Serge Edouard Jeanniton, Sabrina and Amanda's school principal

Their mother, Adle Sorella, has been charged with first-degree murder in connection with their deaths. Their father, Giuseppe De Vito, is wanted by RCMP on outstanding drug charges, and did not attend the Italian funeral mass.

Mourners crowded the Church of Our Lady of Divine Love for the traditional Catholic funeral service, including many students who, along with the sisters, attended nearby Genesis School, where classes were cancelled for the day.

Framed pictures of the girls sat on each side of the altar, where their coffins lay.

The De Vito family asked Genesis School principal Serge Edouard Jeanniton to say a few words during the service. He described Amanda as loving and helpful with a joie de vivre and her sister Sabrina as a firecracker who loved to dance.

"The only thing I can think about is their smiles, and their willingness to help others," Jeanniton said after the service.

"There was a lot of love in the church. Ithink that the community really stuck together, to make sure they could go in peace, and we can grieve in our own way."

The girls' uncle broke down in sobs as he spoke during the service, describing how he was the man who had become Sabrina and Amanda's surrogate father.

The church band played When You Wish Upon a Star and Somewhere Over the Rainbow.

After mass, mourners gathered on the church steps to release white doves into the overcast sky.

Family says troubled mother was depressed

The girls' mother, Adle Sorella, did not attend the funeral.

Sorella is currently being detained at the Pinel Institute, where she is undergoing a psychiatric evaluation.

Family members said she's been suffering from depression for quite some time.

Sorella was charged April 2 with two counts of premeditated murder, after she was arrested following a traffic accident.

Giuseppe De Vito did not show up for his daughters' funeral, despite speculation he might emerge from hiding to lay them to rest.

There was a strong police presence around the church, and many unmarked SUVs with tinted windows were parked in the vicinity. "I can't say who those people were," the CBC's Loreen Pindera reported from the scene.

Authorities have been seeking De Vito for almost two years in connection with a major police operation in 2006 that targeted prominent Montreal mobsters.

De Vitois wantedon drug charges in connection with Operation Coliseum, a major crackdown on Montreal's Mafia underground in 2006. According to Laval police, the family hasn't seen him since an arrest warrant was issued in his name.