MARIETTA, Ga. -- One of the more familiar images of Lauren Burk was one with twinkling eyes, a broad, beaming smile and an arm thrown around a friend.

Hundreds put their arms around each other as they mourned Burk's loss and tried to understand how she was senselessly slain earlier this week. Both her life and death were held up as examples for those left behind during the hour-long memorial Saturday in her hometown at Johnson Ferry Baptist Church.

Burk, a freshman at Auburn University and graduate of Walton High School, was found Tuesday night on the side of a road about five miles from campus, suffering from a gunshot wound. She died later at a hospital.

Her 2001 Honda Civic was found that night burning in a campus parking lot. On Friday, Phenix City, Ala., police arrested Courtney Lockhart, 23, who has been charged with her murder, along with kidnapping, robbery and attempted rape -- though authorities said she was not sexually assaulted.

Many in the audience on Saturday were Burk's peers, a testament to the lives she touched in her 18 years. Several of those closest to her spoke during the service, including her boyfriend of two years, Sean McQuade, and best friend Johanna Cooper, who met Burk in third grade.

Burk will also be remembered at a service at Temple Kol Emeth in Marietta on Sunday, and Auburn University will hold a campus-wide memorial service in her honor on Monday, to include Auburn President Jay Gogue and Alison Penuel, president of her sorority, Delta Gamma.