Community Holds Emotional Prayer Vigil For Young Couple Killed In Teaneck, NJ House Fire

TEANECK, N.J. (CBSNewYork) -- A New Jersey community is grieving after a devastating house fire took the lives of a Bergen County couple.

Delton and Amoya Brown are being remembered for their devotion to each other and their church, CBS2's Dick Brennan reported Thursday.

With the ashes still warm, loved ones gathered across the street from the burned house on Arlington Avenue in Teaneck for an emotional prayer vigil.

"The community is very sad. I think some people are in shock," said Mayor James Dunleavy.

A fire started on the second floor just after 3 a.m. Delton and Amoya were found on the third floor and did not survive.

"Amoya is like my daughter," said Bishop Winston George Christian. "When she migrated here several years ago, she spent every Christmas at my home. Delton is my right hand."

Bishop Christian is the couple's pastor. He officiated their wedding five years ago.

Both were originally from Jamaica. They did not have children and were actively involved at the West Side Worship Center in Englewood.

"I don't know what I'm going to do without them," Christian said. "They're that integral a part of our ministry here."

"They were family, in all sense of the word, and I'm really going to miss them," said their friend Shaquille Brown.

Friends and loved ones hugged and prayed for the couple at the scene of the fire.

"Right now, what we have to do is just put our arms around this family and try to give them some peace," Dunleavy said.

The church plans to have a special service on Sunday to grieve this tremendous loss, relive fond memories and celebrate the lives of Delton and Amoya Brown.

Authorities would not immediately say what caused the fire. It is under investigation.

CBS2's Nick Caloway contributed to this report.

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• New Jersey
• Bergen county
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