Slain LI native, mother of 2 remembered as ‘giver’ at vigil

Family members Sunday mourned the death of a 27-year-old Lawrence High School graduate and mother of two whose boyfriend confessed to killing her and dumping the body in a Bronx park.

Ashley McDuffie, a Mount Vernon resident whose body was found Friday, was a “giver” who could make your day beautiful, said her father Ricky McDuffie Sr.

Days after she dropped off her two children at their grandmother’s home in Connecticut, family members were unable to contact Ashley McDuffie and reported her missing Wednesday, CBS reported. Mount Vernon police declined to comment until a spokesman was available Monday.

McDuffie’s boyfriend Jason Myers, 32, confessed to police Friday to strangling her and dumping her body in Seton Falls Park, according to CBS. He has been charged with second-degree murder and is scheduled to be arraigned Monday.

Family and friends held a vigil in McDuffies’ memory Saturday, but a funeral service has not yet been held.

She was remembered by her father as a “lifter,” who elevated the spirits of those around her. Growing up on Long Island, in Inwood, McDuffie attended Lawrence High School before studying criminal justice at Monroe College.

From a young age, she loved children, and was described as a terrific mom who would do anything for her children.

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“It’s still hard for me to believe that someone so good had to go through this,” said Ricky McDuffie, of Inwood. “She was that beautiful, beautiful on the outside [and] on the inside.”