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EAGLE MOUNTAIN — Dozens gathered Thursday night to remember two 3-year-old boys who were killed when a car blew through a fence and struck them earlier in the week.
"We lost two amazing kids," one woman said, teary-eyed, before the group.
Many lit candles in honor of Odin Ratliff and Hunter Jackson, who had simply been playing Monday on the property of Cedar Valley Stables when Utah County sheriff's deputies said the driver, 25-year-old Kent Barlow, left the neighboring private road in his car, crashed through a fence and hit the boys, leaving a trail of destruction that stretched nearly 350 feet.
Investigators said a preliminary drug screen tested positive for meth.
On Thursday evening, family, friends and neighbors showed up at the stables and exchanged hugs, tears and prayers.
"My little boy was very special," said Theresa Ratliff, mother of Odin. "Just an angel child."
She said it didn't take long for the two children to become friends.
"They bonded so quick over their love," Ratliff said, looking up to the sky. "I know that they're up there bonded now."
Those who spoke remembered how Hunter and Odin had brightened their lives in their short time on earth.
Ratliff said she was committed to making the stables a place "filled with love" once again.
"This place is going to be a refuge. I will build it up," she told the crowd. "I don't care if it will take me years or months, but this place will be filled with love."
She said that's simply what her son did.
"I will take you all by the hand and love you because that's what he did," Ratliff said. "That's what everybody deserves."
