A family will today make the heartbreaking journey to Georgia to bring home the ashes of their mother.

Sherlene 'Star' Church and her husband Jerry Church died last Friday or early Saturday and their bodies were discovered on Sunday.

A 13-year-old boy and a 16-year-old boy together with two men aged 19 and 21, have been charged with their murder.

Today Mrs. Church's two daughters La-Vawn Simons and Sher-Vawn Robinson-Brown, her sister Sherlyn Swan-Caisey, her niece Desiree O'Connor and her mother Madge Swan will travel to Star's home in Georgia to honour their mother's request that her ashes would be scattered in the sea around her home nation of Bermuda.

Mrs. Sherlene Church, who is best known as Star Swan (her nickname and maiden name) married Jerry Church last December and was known around the Island as an entertainer.

During her years living in Bermuda and her extended visits back home, she worked in her sister's bookstore and entertained tourists, locals and seniors with her voice and her drums.

Star has been living in the United States since the 1970s and has only resided in Bermuda for short intervals to tend to her daughters, returning to the US and working as a nurse's aide and an entertainer for seniors.

Her oldest daughter La-Vawn said: "My mother was a very eccentric, meticulous, woman who everybody knew and loved. She was never without her drums going around entertaining people."

Star was described as a very organised woman who was loved by all who met her and as a trendsetter who danced to the beat of her own drum.

Youngest daughter Sher-Vawn said: "She was the kind of person that if you met her once, you wouldn't forget her, and she'll always leave you with something, be it her spirit or some encouraging words."

She said that she kept in contact with the family and the last time someone talked to Star was a week last Monday.

Her brother Mark said: "I spent a month with her in 2004 when she lived in Virginia and I had a lot of fun and got to know her on a different level."

Sherlyn Swan-Caisey, her sister, said: "My sister loved Sade (Nigerian singer-songwriter) and would always encourage me to perform her songs in my sets as she felt her voice fitted mine, she was very good at fine tuning what she thought everyone needed." Mrs. Swan-Caisey is also a member of the Next Level Band.

The Columbus Ledger-Enquirer newspaper reported that Harris County Sheriff's deputies had arrived at the couple's home on Sunday afternoon to inform the couple that their car had been stolen and wrecked in a drunk-driving accident. When officers called at the home they discovered the bodies of the couple.

Mrs. Swan-Caisey said: "I still feel that part of Star's spirit was in that car, 'cause if that car hadn't smashed we would have never known, they could have been in different states and they would have never found those bodies.

"She always felt that she had a connection with a higher power stronger then anyone else in the world had."

Her niece Desiree said of the news of the death: "It doesn't feel real, we feel like she is still out there in Atlanta and we are going to get a phone call tonight. It won't feel real, I guess, until we get out there and have to face it."

Mrs. Swan-Caisey said that everyone found out about the incident at different times, but the first to find out was a family member who read the local paper in Harris County.

"She lived in a very nice area, we've visited that area and it's beautiful. It's unfortunate that this has happened, a 13-year-old boy hanging out with a 21-year-old man and their whole goal was to steal a car and get some money. It's the end of the month, I really believe they were just looking for money.

Sher-Vawn said: "If they wanted money they just should have asked, they would have given them anything they were very generous, they didn't have to kill them."

The family confirmed that the 21-year-old man was not a relative of the couple but was a known criminal in the county who was recently on parole for burglary.

Mrs. Swan-Caisey said: "The last I talked to her, one of the neighbours was having a birthday and there was a lot of alcohol there. I'm wondering if it started from there and they had too much to drink and made this plan to do this, but really I don't have a clue what happened."

The Columbus Ledger-Enquirer reported that Chattahoochee Judicial Circuit District Attorney, Gray Conger said all the suspects would probably be charged as adults, with Mr. Conger saying: "Even though they are juveniles, usually when someone is charged with murder, they are charged as an adult in Georgia."

Additionally, warrants have been issued charging 19-year-old Dereck Cox and 21-year-old Kevin Thomas McKay with two counts each of murder, aggravated assault, burglary and robbery.

When asked what she would you like to see happen to the suspects if convicted, Mrs. Swan-Caisey said: "Coming from a family that is very spiritual, we have been praying for our family as well as the suspects' families and we just want to see justice prevail, and it's up to God to judge and take care of it."

La-Vawn told The Royal Gazette that her mom wrote her own eulogy over 13 years ago and gave every family member a copy which she wanted read at her funeral, which detailed her life accomplishments and family memories.

A memorial service will be held in Georgia and Mrs. Church's body will be cremated and her ashes brought back to Bermuda and spread over the waters that surround the Island as she requested.