( CNN ) -- Hundreds of people filled a college auditorium Wednesday to pay their last respects to an El Reno , Oklahoma , woman slain along with her four children last week . Summer Rust 's children -- clockwise from top , Autumn , Kirsten , Evynn and Teagin -- carve pumpkins . About 300 people attended the service at Redlands Community College for Summer Rust , 25 ; her son , Teagin , 4 ; and daughters Evynn , 3 , and Autumn and Kirsten , both 7 , CNN affiliate KOCO reported . Rust 's white coffin was placed in front of the podium , flanked by the smaller caskets carrying her children . Each casket had a picture of the victim , surrounded by flowers . A slide show of the family played on an overhead screen throughout the service . `` I 've preached a lot of funerals , but none like this one , '' said the Rev . Gerald Van Horn . `` This has been on my heart ever since I heard about it . I first learned of it from the news , and I said , 'In El Reno ? No way . ' ... We do n't have to deal with tragedy very often , but it has come , and the reality of it has sunk in . Searching my heart on what to say , I have found it difficult . '' He told mourners that God is near and feels their pain but acknowledged that Rust and her children `` will be greatly missed . '' The bodies were found January 12 in Rust 's apartment in El Reno , about 30 miles west of Oklahoma City . According to the document , each of the victims was suffocated and strangled . Crime scene investigators said each body had ligature marks around the neck . Rust 's boyfriend , Joshua Steven Durcho , 25 , admitted choking her to death but said the children were not there at the time , according to an affidavit filed last week . He was arrested in Hamilton County , Texas , officials said . A spokeswoman at the Canadian County , Oklahoma , Sheriff 's Office said Durcho was being held in the county jail after waiving extradition . Durcho 's cousin found Rust 's body and called officers , who found the children 's bodies in the apartment , says an affidavit written by a special agent with the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation . An apparent acquaintance of Durcho 's told police he came to her apartment Monday afternoon and told her he had `` choked '' Summer Rust to death and he was leaving Oklahoma , according to the affidavit . The affidavit says Durcho told the woman `` that the children were at their grandmother 's residence ... while he and Summer worked out their relationship problems . '' Rust 's mother , Susan Rust of Carson City , Nevada , said Durcho was unemployed and had been living with Rust and her children . Authorities in Texas said Durcho was arrested after a state trooper attempted to stop his car because the trooper suspected that the driver was drunk . When the trooper ran the license plate on the car , it matched the tag number of a vehicle sought by Oklahoma police .
NEW : Preacher says he found mourning for mom , four kids ` ` difficult '' Some people attended service at First Community Church . Body found January 12 in apartment in El Reno , Oklahoma . Woman 's boyfriend , John Steven Durcho , admitted choking her , affidavit says .