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Friends, Family Remember 11-Year-Old Who Fell To Her Death At Wildwood Amusement Park

PLEASANTVILLE, N.J. (CBS) - The makeshift memorial outside Pleasant Tech Academy in Pleasantville, New Jersey grew quickly, as friends of Abiah Jones, 11, added more memories of the young girl who died on Friday.

"She liked to have fun," said her cousin, Haleema Miller. "She was sweet, very warmhearted. She could make you smile just saying one word."

Miller says she always looked up to Abiah for her positive attitude.

"Never a negative person," described Miller. "She was always smiling. She had a very pretty smile."

Abiah Jones was part of a school trip to Morey's Pier on Friday when police say she fell more than 100 feet from the ferris wheel at 12:30 in the afternoon. She was airlifted to Cape Regional Medical Center, but her injuries were too severe to survive.

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Police call her death a freak accident. The Ferris wheel last passed an annual inspection in March, and police say there was no indication of horseplay on the Ferris wheel or that the fall was intentional.

About 100 of Abiah's classmates and friends gathered outside the girl's charter school, shedding tears and sharing hugs, remembering the girl who died so quickly and so tragically.

Chief School Administrator Kathy McDavid knew Abiah personally. She says it is a shock to the entire school to lose a student.

"We're trying to prepare to give them as much support as possible," says McDavid.

The school will provide counselors to students and staff grieving from the loss of Jones.

Reported by Oren Liebermann, CBS 3

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