Family, friends, and thousands of strangers yesterday attended the wake of Nixzmary Brown, the 7-year-old Brooklyn girl who allegedly was beaten and killed last week by her abusive stepfather.

Standing three deep in a line outside Ortiz Funeral Home on the Lower East Side, many mourners said they did not know Nixzmary but wanted to show their support for her.

“I wanted to show up for her, even if it’s too late,” Christine Healy, 42, of Manhattan said.

The Bedford-Stuyvesant girl was found dead Wednesday. Police subsequently arrested the girl’s mother, Nixzaliz Santiago, 27, and her common-law husband, Cesar Rodriguez, 28, who were charged in her death.

Yesterday, mourners said Nixzmary looked peaceful. She was laid out in a white open casket and wore a white dress and veil that did not hide the bruises on her face.

Inside the funeral home, her maternal grandmother and cousins were still “in a state of shock,” a spokeswoman for the family, Awilda Cordero, said.

Ms. Cordero said Nixzmary’s siblings may attend the wake today. Meanwhile, no shortage of friends crowded a sidewalk on First Avenue that stretched around the corner yesterday, including a schoolmate of Nixzmary’s who to protect his privacy declined to give his name. The boy said students at P.S. 256 feel “sad about what happened.”

Other mourners, who did not know her, waited nearly an hour in freezing temperatures to pay their respects.

“I’m a stepfather myself,” Hector Rodriguez, 32, who traveled to Manhattan from Allentown, Pa., said. “That’s not a stepfather, that’s a monster.”

Many also blamed Nixzmary’s school and Administration for Child Services caseworkers for failing to protect her. “She was already in the system. They should’ve paid attention to her,” Lynn Ramirez, 24, said.

Public officials were also on hand to mourn Nixzmary, including Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum and Assemblywoman Naomi Rivera.

Ms. Rivera called on Governor Pataki to make ACS a state agency, and said people should not be required to go through ACS when the police should be alerted to an abusive situation. “We can’t afford for any more of our children to die,” she said.

Other city officials also issued harsh words for those at fault, including Mayor Bloomberg, who took responsibility on behalf of the city for Nixzmary’s death.

“People will be held accountable for their actions, and we will work day and night to do everything in our power to prevent future tragedies,” he said.

Ms. Cordero, the family spokeswoman, responded to the mayor’s statement and pledged to make sure he makes good on his promise.

“If he doesn’t, we’ll remind him every day that ACS screwed up here,” she said.