By Adam Allington, KWMU
Kirkwood, MO – Family, friends and others gathered at Kirkwood United Methodist Church on Thursday for the funeral of Charles Lee "Cookie" Thornton.
Even as Thornton was laid to rest, the community around him is still struggling to understand what drove him to kill five people at Kirkwood City Hall.
Trying to reconcile the two sides of Charles Thornton is difficult. To city government, he was a troublemaker who routinely disrupted meetings.
To the rest of the community, particularly his Meacham Park neighborhood, he was a pillar, a business owner that everyone liked.
At his funeral, Maxine Jones said Thornton could not have been sane at the moment of his crime.
"I just believe it was a force, a force of evil, from embedded hurt. I felt that he must have felt really hopeless."
As the community struggles to cope, the situation surrounding the murders is further complicated by allegations by some that Kirkwood city government is partially responsible for marginalizing the economically depressed Meacham Park neighborhood.
Carlos Ray grew up in Meacham Park. He said that if Thornton's funeral is an indication, the community seems to be coming together.
"The service today shows that the community is not divided. Franklin McCauley, who was my principal in high school, said he is going to do everything in his power to work to make sure situations like this don't happen."
All five of Thornton's victims were laid to rest earlier this week. Kirkwood Mayor Mike Swoboda remains in critical condition.