Sandy Hook Elementary victim: Rachel D'Avino, 29

Days before the Connecticut shooting rampage, the boyfriend of Rachel D'Avino had asked her parents for permission to marry her.

D'Avino was a behavioral therapist who had only recently started working at the school where she was killed, according to Lissa Lovetere, a friend who is handling her funeral planned for Friday. D'Avino's boyfriend, Anthony Cerritelli, planned to ask her to marry him on Christmas Eve, Lovetere said.

Lovetere said she met D'Avino in 2005 when D'Avino was assigned to her son, who has autism, in their town of Bethlehem. D'Avino, 29, was so dedicated she'd make home visits and constantly offered guidance on handling situations such as helping her son deal with loud music at a wedding.

"Her job didn't end when the school bell rang at 3 o'clock," Lovetere said.

Police told her family that she shielded one of the students during the rampage, Lovetere said.

"I'm heartbroken. I'm numb," Lovetere said. "I think she taught me more about how to be a good mother to a special needs child than anyone else ever had."

Photo taken from the Rachel D'avino's memorial page on Facebook.