Connecticut National Guard Private Sammuel M. Mercouriou Laid To Rest

Mourners jammed the Enfield Congregational Church Saturday to say goodbye to Connecticut National Guard .

The 2011 Suffield High School graduate died Dec. 8, after he was shot during a rifle range training exercise at Fort Benning, GA. The circumstances surrounding the incident are still under investigation, Army officials said.

Mercouriou was eulogized by Rev. Kathy Faber, pastor of Enfield Congregational Church, and by his sisters, Kelly Munroe and Shannon Todaro. A procession then made its way to West Suffield Cemetery, where the 18-year-old was buried with full military honors.

A squad of riflemen fired a three-volley salute, and an Army bugler solemnly played "Taps."

Mercouriou was a member of the Army’s D Company, 1st Battalion, 19th Infantry Regiment, 198th Infantry Brigade.

He is survived by his mother, Jody (Taylor) Hunt and her husband, David, of Suffield; his father, Savvas Mercouriou of Willimantic; his sisters, Kelly Munroe and her husband, Geoffrey, of East Windsor, and Shannon Todaro and her husband, John, of Wethersfield; his maternal grandparents, Joseph and Jacqueline Taylor of East Windsor; his paternal grandmother, Irene Mercouriou of Newington; his uncle, Jim Taylor and his wife, Susie, of Broad Brook; and many cousins and friends.