Ottawa ? Eighteen months after Kansas University student Shannon Martin was slain in Costa Rica, her parents and sister gathered Friday at a cemetery near Ottawa to watch workers erect her tombstone.

âÂÂThis is the most difficult thing IâÂÂve had to do since Shannon was killed,â said MartinâÂÂs mother, Jeanette Stauffer. âÂÂItâÂÂs so permanent.âÂÂ

The black granite monument features etchings of Martin on both sides, accompanied by prose and, along the bottom, a testimonial drawn from letters MartinâÂÂs friends sent after learning of her death.

One of the etchings shows Martin with Brutus, a German shepherd sheâÂÂd raised, trained and loved. Brutus died of natural causes Sept. 30.

âÂÂHe was 13 1/2 years old,â Stauffer said. âÂÂShannon had had him since he was a puppy.âÂÂ

Several of MartinâÂÂs and StaufferâÂÂs friends helped the family pay for the monument. The etchings were drawn by Holton artist Patric Hamilton.

Martin, who was 23 when she was slain, is buried next to her fatherâÂÂs parents and grandparents.

Two men and a woman charged with MartinâÂÂs murder are scheduled to stand trial in February in Costa Rica. Stauffer plans to attend the proceedings, which, she said, are expected to last three days.

The suspects face 20 to 35 years in prison if convicted.

Martin was in Golfito, Costa Rica, completing a research project on tropical ferns when she was attacked after leaving a nightclub. A week later, Martin, an honors student, would have graduated from KU.

Since MartinâÂÂs death, Stauffer and several U.S. and Costa Rican officials have rallied support for starting the Shannon Lucille Martin English Center within the Costa Rica Coast Guard Academy in Golfito.

Plans call for the center offering free 15-week courses in conversational English. More information about the center is available by sending questions via e-mail to golfitotechcenter@yahoo.com.