After Prom Date Rejection Stabbing, Friend Recalls Maren Sanchez An Angel

A beautiful and talented 16-year-old girl was senselessly murdered on the day of her high school prom.

Maren Sanchez will be posthumously named queen of the prom by her grieving classmates.

Classmate Jesiree Carrera fought back tears as she spoke of the honor student who was fatally stabbed at Jonathan Law High School in Milford, Connecticut, last Friday morning allegedly by 16-year-old Chris Plaskon, a boy she'd turned down for a prom date.

"She was just so talented, not just in singing but in everything she did," Carrera told INSIDE EDITION, "He did have a really big crush on her and was hoping to go to the prom with her."

Watch More of Carrera's Emotional Interview

School is closed at Jonathan Law High School today as students are given the day to grieve and gather their thoughts in the wake of this senseless tragedy, which has cast a shadow over one of Amercia's oldest and most beloved traditions—prom night.

High school prom is a rite of passage for high school kids across America and is the theme of countless teen movies, showcasing the biggest night of the year for high school students. But behind the joys of prom night are pressures that aren't often talked about.

Relationship expert Dr. Wendy Walsh told INISDE EDITION, "Prom night is filled with so much potential for emotional explosion because these are adolescents with developing minds. This young man simply couldn't tolerate, couldn't cope with the pressure, the social hype, and then the ulitmate rejection."

Grieving students gathered at a local dock on the day of the tragedy. The boy who was to be Maren's prom date, Jarrod Butts, carried her prom dress and a cluster of purple balloons were released in her memory.

Meanwhile, their prom has been delayed to a later date.

The words in a touching tribute say it all about the girl who dreamed of prom night: "Maren was an angel. She just went home."