Friends and family farewell Te Atatu stabbing victim at packed west Auckland funeral

Friends and family of Carly Jasmin Lainala Stewart, the victim of a fatal Te Atatu stabbing, farewelled the young mother at a packed funeral in west Auckland today.

The 36-year-old died surrounded by friends she had grown up with, at a girls' day out at a house on School Rd, in Te Atatu South, on Saturday afternoon.

Her final farewell was held at a funeral home on Central Park Drive, in Henderson this morning - less than a minute's drive away from the house in which she lost her life.

Hundreds of people attended the service and many had to be decanted into a side room to watch the proceedings.

In tribute, dozens of friends wore black t-shirts with Carly's picture on the front. Emblazoned on the back was the phrase "Love the life you live, live the life you love."

A group of schoolchildren performed an emotional Haka as the coffin was carried inside.

At the beginning of the service Carly's aunt, Sister Edwina Ulberg, paid tribute to her niece's life.

And after mourners sang the hymn Amazing Grace, eulogies were given by Carly's father, Reg Stewart, her mother, Charlene, and brother, Reuben.

A mother of two boys, she was described by friends as a "beautiful soul" who adored her family.

At her workplace Superior Personnel, a recruitment company in East Tamaki, she was remembered as being dedicated to her clients.

A family notice in the Herald on Tuesday said Stewart was the daughter of Reg and Charlene, and Ray, and a beloved sister to Reuben and Miriana.

The woman charged with Stewart's murder was tearful when she appeared in Waitakere District Court on Monday.

She held her hands on her head while she stood in the dock.

The accused was given interim name suppression.

The group of women who attended the "girls' day out" afterwards told the Herald they were all "like sisters" and that the woman accused of murder had gatecrashed the party.

The woman who lives at the address and hosted the event, who did not wish to be named, said it was a "beautiful" day until the uninvited guest arrived.

"I didn't even know her," she said.

"It was a beautiful day, we are all sisters who grew up together. An outsider came in, no one knew that was going to happen."