JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Mourners started filing into the auditorium at Atlantic Coast High School well before the celebration of life service started at 10 a.m. Saturday. Friends, family and former students are still processing the death of Vivian James, an energetic and passionate science teacher at the school killed inside her home two weeks ago to the day.
On Friday, the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office announced Zebulon Perkins, 27, would be charged with second-degree murder in the death of James. Sources tell First Coast News that Perkins was once a neighbor of James and that he had helped with jobs around her house.
“She was helping him, a person of her community, a neighbor," former student Sarah Wise said. "For anybody to come and do that to her, they’re just the devil and they will get what they deserve.”
Wise, who followed in James' footsteps and now teaches science for Duval County Public Schools, said it was like James to always be ready and willing to help others in need.
“She was that teacher that made sure she instilled morals and values in the classroom as well as outside the classroom," Wise said. "She was a mother, she was just an overall mother."
Hundreds showed up for the service, most dressed in purple in honor of James. Many spoke of the devotion she had not only for the classroom, but especially for the students in it.
“She’s the only teacher that believed in me my whole school," said Ako Williams, another former student. "All my school, all those years, she’s the only teacher that believed in me.”
After the celebration, attendees went to the courtyard of the school to release butterflies. All around James' classroom were pictures of the insect, which Wise said is a metaphor for how James lives on now.
"Energy cannot be created or destroyed, only transferred," Wise said. "We could feel her here."
James was known for the energy she brought to the classroom, often hosting impromptu dance parties with her students. Williams said James had an impact on her life so large that it changed her path forever.
“She impacted a lot of troubled kids," Williams said. "A lot of kids that were on the wrong path, she definitely changed them."
As the community raises money to erect a permanent memorial for the slain teacher, mourners said her legacy lives on in each of them.
“We can only just remember her really and keep moving," Williams said. "She wouldn’t want us to be sad, so we can only just remember her and keep going.”
Along with the second-degree murder charge, Perkins also faces charges of tampering with evidence and dealing in stolen property. He was expected to stand before a judge for the first time Saturday, but he waived his first court appearance.
On Your Side dug into Perkins' past and found arrests dating back to 2012, nine in total. Some of those arrests were for battery, including strangulation.