Members of a Denver family are processing a fresh wave of grief following the death of their 12-year-old son, who was killed mere months after they buried another child.

On Friday morning, dozens of people filled the chapel of the Pipkin Braswell Funeral Home on East Colfax Avenue to say goodbye to Elias Armstrong, who was shot to death on Feb. 5 in Denver while allegedly stealing a car.

Armstrong’s older brother died in October during a police pursuit in Westminster, where authorities said he shot himself. The family doubts that version of events.

Armstrong’s family and friends laid him to rest at Saint Simeon Catholic Cemetery on a near-freezing afternoon with a vibrant blue sky, the color also worn by mourners. At Elias’ memorial, blue and white flowers surrounded Armstrong’s casket, and tea lights in holders the same color flickered.

“Blue represents, to us, innocence and pureness. This was a 12-year-old child,” said Elias’ stepmother, Turquisha Moore-Armstrong at the Saint Simeon Catholic Cemetery in Aurora, where Armstrong was interred after the memorial service. “It represents the sky, where he’s at, heaven, to us.”

Moore-Armstrong thinks of herself as mother to the boy who would ask her to brush his hair into a ponytail and whom she taught to write his name. She wore a jacket with a photo of Elias and “Mom” printed on the back.

Mourners described Armstrong as a smart, lovable kid who lit up a room with his smile. He had a keen interest in money and was doing well in school before his death, said staff at the Bruce Randolph School in Denver. Moore-Armstrong said her boy had plans to go to college, travel and have his own family.

“I’m glad he’s with my mom,” Elias’ sister, Alicia Henderson, said at the memorial service, referring to the siblings’ mother who had passed away. “He gets to see her again.”

But Moore-Armstrong said Elias fell in with peers who lured him onto a dark path, acquaintances she said he had a “weird connection” with.

He and a group of friends allegedly stole an Audi on Feb. 5 from the Northfield shopping center.  Denver Police said the car’s owner — whom they have not identified citing the ongoing investigation — tracked them down with an app he had installed on his phone, and traded gunfire with the group.

“He was a very great kid who just happened to fall into the wrong group. Which is just something that kids do,” Moore-Armstrong said.

Armstrong’s brother, 16-year-old Torrence McCall, died in October in Westminster during a police pursuit. Though police have said he shot himself, Moore-Armstrong doubts that version of events.

Denver District Attorney Beth McCann announced her decision not to file charges against the owner of the stolen car. Armstrong’s family want prosecutors to reconsider the case, saying the man took justice into his own hands and doubted he acted in self-defense.

Pictures of Armstrong sat on display in the chapel: A close-up photo of him and his father, Thomas Armstrong, both grinning; the two of them, Elias a baby; a picture of him looking dashing in a black shirt and chain necklace, taken in Texas, a place Moore-Armstrong said felt like a second home to Armstrong.

Friends and family members took flowers from a spray atop Armstrong’s casket and told him they loved him as it lowered into the ground. He was put to rest by his uncle, Marcus.

“It’s never goodbye. It’s till we meet again,” Moore-Armstrong said.

“I love you, baby boy,” his grandmother said.

Thomas Armstrong urged children to stop believing they have to carry guns to protect themselves. They can’t offer the same protection faith in God gives, he said at the memorial service.

“Carrying guns is not going to protect you like the armor of God,” he said. “Before you get out on the battlefield, you need to be strapped up so you know that you’re protected, and the angels in heaven are right here to secure you through anything.”