Shock, grief persist as southwest Missouri mourns slain 10-year-old girl

Surprisingly this wasn't labeled a "Hate Crime"..

(startribune) SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — Family and friends remembered 10-year-old Hailey Owens as a vivacious spirit — a trusting little girl whose cheery disposition only deepened the heartbreak after police say she was snatched off a southwest Missouri street and killed by an abductor.

Memories of Hailey mixed with anger and shock in Springfield on Thursday, as the community tried to make sense of the brutal crime that took her life. She went missing on Tuesday, taken in daylight from a neighborhood street less than two blocks from her Springfield home as she walked back from her best friend's house.

Craig Michael Wood, 45, a longtime employee of Springfield's public school system, is charged with first-degree murder, kidnapping and armed criminal action in the fourth-grader's shooting death. His initial appearance in court was postponed Thursday and rescheduled for Friday.
Hailey's mother Stacey Barfield, aunt Sara Wells and a third relative gathered at the abduction site Thursday morning to retrieve some of the dozens of floral arrangements and stuffed animals left by well-wishers. Barfield broke down sobbing as she knelt beside the memorial.

Full Story


Related - 

Reuters: Coach to plead not guilty in Missouri girl's kidnap, murder -defense