Ethan Stacy Vigil: 200 Mourn Murdered 4-Year-Old Boy
LAYTON, Utah (CBS/AP) A crowd of about 200 people attended a vigil Saturday night to honor slain 4-year-old Ethan Stacy, whose mother and stepfather were arrested after his badly beaten and disfigured body was found buried in a Utah canyon last week.
PICTURES: Ethan Stacy Dead; Mother, Stepfather Charged
The vigil in Layton mostly included people who never knew the little boy, but were shocked and saddened by his gruesome death.
One of the boy's neighbors, David Mumma, helped organize Saturday's vigil.
He says he hoped, among other things, that it would serve as a reminder for residents to be vigilant about detecting child abuse.
Ethan's body was found wrapped in plastic in Ogden canyon in Utah on Tuesday evening.
PICTURES: Ethan Stacy Dead; Mother, Stepfather Charged
His mother, Stephanie Sloop, and stepfather, Nathanael Sloop, reported him missing the day before, saying that he wandered out of the family's apartment in Layton; however, police arrested both the mother and the stepfather on Tuesday.
The boys last days were nothing but constant torture and abuse, which included scolding and consuming excrement, according to police documents released late Wednesday and viewed by Crimesider. The boys face had been mangled by a hammer.
Davis County Attorney Troy Rawlings said Friday that the Sloop's will likely be charged with aggravated murder in the boy's death.
MORE ON CRIMESIDER:
May
13, 2010 - Ethan Stacy's Last Days: Details of Burns, and Eating Human
Feces, in Police Documents
May
12, 2010 - Ethan Stacy's Mother: "You Can Always Have More Children,"
She Says of Previous Loss
May
12, 2010 - Ethan Stacy Found Dead; Mother and Stepfather Charged in
4-Year-Old's Death