St. Peters Woman Was Cousin to Heroic Sandy Hook Teacher

Noemi Guyton, of St. Peters, was first cousin to the teacher widely hailed as a hero to her first-grade students in the midst of the shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary in Newtown, CT.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported today that Guyton "was stunned to learn" of the death of her cousin, Victoria "Vicki" Soto, 27, who reportedly huddled her students in a closet, then lied to  suspected gunman Adam Lanza, telling them the children were in the gym.

Soto was shot and killed on Friday morning, along with 20 first-graders at the school and six other adults, including the shooter, who killed himself.

The Post-Dispatch reported that Guyton has lived in St. Peters three years. The newspaper quoted her saying, "When the parents of her students go to (Soto's) funeral, how are they going to say thank you? Thank you doesn’t feel like enough.”

The newspaper said Guyton had left Connecticut for Tennessee when she was 16 and had not kept in close touch with Soto.