Seven patients and Avant were killed before Carthage police officer Justin Garner confronted Stewart in a hallway and brought him down with a single bullet to the chest from his service pistol.
Thursday, family, friends, and members of the community came together for a final goodbye. They honored the hero with prayer and song.
"He was a good person, a very smart person, a very trained nurse, and after all this happened, I kind of figured that he'd be the one to try and save everybody," said the Reverend Donald Daniel at the service at the Freedom Baptist Church.
Avant was no stranger to helping people. He spent 10 years in the Coast Guard and was buried with full military honors.
