PHOENIX-- It's been two years since a 12-year-old Valley girl was tortured and beaten to death by her stepmother.
Police say Trenay Duchane's 9-year-old sister, Treshae, was forced to watch the ordeal and stay in the home with her sister's body for days after she was killed.
The girls' family gathered Saturday to commemorate the two-year anniversary of Trenay's death, and says her surviving sister brings them hope.
"It hurts," said their mother, Kenisha Gray, at her daughter's grave site. "I just miss her so much."
Family members say they will never recover from Trenay's horrific death. Police say her stepmother beat her and forced her into scalding water. They say her father came home to find her badly injured, but still alive, and did not call for help.
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"I think about what her and Treshae went through, and how horrible it was," said their grandmother, Virginia Gray. "I couldn't even think of how a 9-year-old could have took something like that and survived. I think about what I could have done to save them, to be there for them."
Police say Treshae was forced to watch her sister's murder, and was a victim herself. They say she suffered a broken arm, burns and bruises, and spent three months recovering in the hospital.
But it's hard to tell the girl has experienced such tragedy by looking at her today.
"Treshay is a very happy child now," said Virginia Gray. "She's coming through it slowly. She still talks about her. But all in all, she's doing good in school. She's happy because she's with her sisters and brothers and mom. Her smile just lights up the world."
Her mother said though Trenae is improving every day, she looked up to her big sister and thinks about her sister often.
"She misses Trenay," said Kenisha Gray. "She'll write her a letter and say, 'I miss you sister, I love you. We all miss you.'"
The girls' father, Jeffrey Duchane, and their stepmother, Reiko Troupe, were sentenced to life in prison for murder and child abuse, but the Grays say, that won't heal the wounds Treshae will have to live with for the rest of her life, and it won't bring Trenay back.
"I won't be able to attend her high school graduation, or see her get married or anything like that, so it's kind of hard," said Virginia Gray. "It will never be closure to me, because she was so close to my heart."
They celebrated her life with flowers and balloons Saturday, and the comfort that they can cherish her sister, the survivor.
The State stepped in to cover Treshae's hospital bills, and a grant is paying for weekly therapy sessions for the rest of her life.
There is still an account set up at Chase Bank under the name "United Firefighters Treshae."
