Family and friends remember Grace Ross on her birthday

 

NEW CARLISLE, Ind. --- It was a bittersweet day for family and friends of Grace Ross, as they came together to celebrate her heavenly birthday on Saturday. They decorated her memorial bench at Olive Elementary School and released balloons along with fireworks in honor of her second birthday in heaven, and what would have been the day she turned just eight years old.

Grace tragically lost her life on March 12^th of 2021, after she was found dead in a wooded area.

Fifteen-year-old Anthony Hutchens is accused of leading Grace into the woods and killing her when she was just six-years-old.

Family and friends say she was the light in any room, and would have loved the candles, balloons, and fireworks in her honor.

The balloons released read ‘Forever and always in our hearts’. That’s the message that her family says they want to send to her as they remember her and miss her. They say they know she is smiling down from heaven.

Anthony Hutchens, who is being tried as an adult, will face a four-day bench trial beginning January 23^rd after requesting a bench trial by judge in September.