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Healing From The Ground Up

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By MIKE WELLS and CHIP OSOWSKI

The Tampa Tribune News Channel 8

Published: May 29, 2008

Updated: 05/29/2008 01:22 am

LUTZ - A backhoe ripped down a mobile home Wednesday where a young mother and her two children were slain.

The bodies of Lisa Freiberg, 26, and her children, Zachary, 7, and Heather Savannah, 2, were found May 12 inside their home on South Mobile Villa Drive.

The demolition of Freiberg's mobile home might help alleviate the grief of her neighbors, a few of them said, as they watched men in hard hats knock down the walls and roof. Investigators said they had gathered all the evidence they needed from the property, which is owned by Freiberg's parents.

A pink shoe and a blue laundry basket stood out among the piles of boards, insulation and siding. A crewman operating a backhoe for Kimmons Construction scooped the debris into a container that would be hauled away later.

A large memorial of flowers, pictures and toys that mourners started weeks ago on a nearby corner is also gone.

Neighbor Tim Kelly said Keith Freiberg, Lisa's father, recently retrieved some items and left the rest to be discarded.

There were enough teddy bears left to fill three kitchen waste bags, Kelly said. He collected them, air-fluffed them in his clothes dryer and donated them to the Shriners Hospitals for Children - Tampa.

Also Wednesday, children at Learning Gate Community School in Lutz honored the family by planting two memorial gardens.

The children miss Zachary, their first-grade classmate, teacher Lisa Arias said.

"Every day they're still drawing pictures for him and remembering him and talking about him," Arias said. "He's quite the topic of conversation each and every day. This is just another way for them to express themselves."

The 6- and 7-year-olds planted a tree and 10 wishbone flowers at the East Lake Burrell Drive home of Zachary's grandparents, also in Lutz. The children carried in a bench, too, which bears a plaque that reads: "You Laughed. You Learned. You Were Loved."

Barbara Freiberg, Lisa's mother, couldn't pass up the offer of hugs from her grandson's many friends.

"Of course not," she said. "No way."

The children planted another memorial garden at the Learning Gate school later Wednesday afternoon.

"They understand the permanence of this, and it makes them very sad," Arias said.

Lisa Freiberg's boyfriend, Edward Covington, 35, is charged with three counts of first-degree murder, three counts of abuse of dead human bodies, one count of cruelty to animals and one count of violating probation. The family's dog was also killed. Covington is being held without bail.

Reporter Mike Wells can be reached (813) 259-7839 or mwells@tampatrib.com.

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