NAMPA -- Three sons, and more than 100 other family members and friends, gathered in Nampa to say goodbye to a woman who prosecutors say was slain by her estranged husband.
Theresa Time, 47, was found dead in her Nampa home earlier this month. Her husband, 51-year-old Alofa Time, has been charged with first-degree murder in her decapitation.
"I never thought that at the age of 19, I'd be burying my mom," Theresa Time's oldest son, Aaron Talili said during her memorial service on Friday, the Idaho Press-Tribune reported. "I love her very much. Words cannot explain how I feel right now. I just want to say, 'Mom, I love you.' "
Aaron Talili, 16-year-old Abraham Talili Jr. and 11-year-old Andrew Talili are all Theresa Time's sons from a previous marriage. They live in Oxnard, Calif., with their uncle, Peter Talili.
Abraham Talili said his mother once saved his life by refusing to follow doctors' recommendations to take him off of life support after he came down with botulism as an infant.
"She wouldn't let them pull the plug on me," he said. "Mom, I know this wasn't the best way to go, but you're in a better place now."
Andrew Talili struggled with emotion when speaking about his mother.
"I want to tell my mom how much I love her, and thank her for everything she has done for me," he said.
Theresa Time was a missionary in Apia Samoa Mission for more than a year with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Peter Talili said, and directed music at the Oxnard LDS church until she divorced her sons' father about eight years ago. In Nampa, she was a member of the Samoan Assemblies of God congregation.
"There is a longing to avenge and a human desire not to forgive," Samoan Assemblies of God Rev. Tugasala Fuga said. "Forgive, forgive, forgive."
Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty against Alofa Time. Prosecutors say Theresa Time's headless body was found after Alofa Time, carrying the severed head in his Dodge Ram pickup, deliberately swerved into oncoming traffic, colliding with a sedan and killing Samantha Nina Murphy, 36, and her daughter, Jaelynne Grimes, 4. The impact of the crash caused the head to fly onto the roadway.
