Caroline Previdi, 6

(AP) -- "Silly Caroline" Previdi had an infectious grin and a giving heart.

Karen Dryer, a neighbor, remembered how Caroline would ride the bus with her son, Logan, when he got scared. She'd sit with him, make sure he felt safe, and play peek-a-boo over the seat to distract him.

"My son refers to her as 'Silly Caroline,'" said Dryer, who is still wrestling with how to talk to her son about the shootings. "She's just a girl that was always smiling, always wanting others to smile."

"Caroline Phoebe Previdi was a blessing from God and brought joy to everyone she touched," her parents, Jeff and Sandy Previdi, said in a statement. "We know that she is looking down on us from Heaven."

Family friend David Sutch, who lives in Brookfield, Mo., described the Previdis as loving and compassionate, always having other children over to the house, willing to befriend anyone.

"I can't imagine a family that deserved this less," he said.