A student holds flowers at an impromptu memorial for stabbing victim Maren Sanchez, 16, Friday outside Jonathan Law High School in Milford, Conn. Sanchez was stabbed to death earlier in the day during an altercation inside the school. A teenage boy has been charged with murder.

HARTFORD, Conn. — The night before Maren Sanchez was fatally stabbed inside her high school, she asked to take a break from her drama group for a nail appointment. The junior prom she helped plan was the next day, and she wanted to look her best.

Sanchez, a 16-year-old junior, was attacked Friday in a school hallway, and a boy who’s a student there has been charged with murder.

Instead of the prom that night, students gathered for a candlelight vigil and counselors were available for anyone who needed their help. They planned to be on hand Saturday as well. The prom was postponed indefinitely.

Police are investigating whether Sanchez was stabbed after turning down an invitation to the prom, an event she had been looking forward to attending with her boyfriend.

Family members and friends at the Jonathan Law High School in Milford were left reeling from the attack on Sanchez, an outgoing member of the National Honor Society who played guitar and was active in drama and other school activities.

“The unprovoked attack on Maren this morning has unfortunately for our family resulted in the permanent loss of Maren Victoria Sanchez, a bright light full of hopes and dreams with her future at her fingertips,” her cousin, Edward Kovac, said Friday, reading from a statement.

Sanchez had posted on Facebook a photograph of herself wearing a blue prom dress, and on Thursday she was laughing at school with a friend as they talked about the upcoming dance.

“We were just laughing, talking about what we were going to do when we got there, how many pictures we were going to take,” said the friend, Imani Langston.

That night she was helping to paint the set for a high school production of “Little Shop of Horrors” when she asked to be excused to have her nails done, drama adviser Michael Mele said.

“So here is this girl with her freshly painted prom nails, painting the set, and just having a great time with her classmates talking about plans for the prom and plans for after prom and going on a double date with another one of the drama kids and her new boyfriend,” Mele said.