The three-year-old son of a police detective who was found murdered told her friends and family "mummy is in heaven" as they gathered at her funeral.
The Reverend Canon Glyn Webster told the congregation at Heather Cooper's funeral in York Minster how he heard little Joshua say these words during the service.
Mr Webster told the packed cathedral about the remark and said: "That is our confidence. That is our certainty. Thank you, Joshua, you've preached the best sermon."
The body of Detective Constable Cooper, 33, was found last month in Blackdown Woods near Lurgashall, West Sussex, just a few miles from her home in Haslemere, Surrey. A post-mortem examination found that the Surrey Police officer died from a blow to the head and a stab wound to the throat.
Her partner, Peter Foster, 35, was arrested and is awaiting trial for murder.
Det Con Cooper's family accompanied Joshua and his three-month-old sister Isabelle into the ancient building.
Her father James carried baby Isabelle into the cathedral behind the coffin which was carried by her colleagues from Surrey Police and had her police cap on the top.
Mr Webster, who is the Chancellor of York Minster, paid tribute in the service to Miss Cooper on behalf of her family.
He said: "With her bubbly personality, she brought joy and laughter into people's lives wherever she went."
He added: "Heather was a person who always lived life to the full and at high speed. She packed so much into her short life which was so tragically cut short."