Austin Hicks wanted to get the teddy bear and the flowers. And on Palm Sunday, a day signifying the upcoming celebration of resurrection and rebirth, the boy made sure to get a branch blessed at St. Mary's for the five people who died down the road from his home.

The youngest victim of that fiery crash Saturday afternoon on Ohio 603 was 12 years old, the same age as Austin.

"He just thought that would help," his mother, Vicki Ryan, said.

Speed is believed to have been a contributing factor in the crash that killed 12-year-old Ashley Nichols; her mother, Colleen Dailey, 38; Brandon T. McNeal, 21; his brother, Terry L. McNeal, 23; and Dailey's boyfriend, Wyatt Cross, 30. All are from the Mansfield area, according to the Mansfield post of the Ohio Highway Patrol, which is investigating the 4:16 p.m. crash near Welty Road between Lucas and Perrysville.

According to the patrol, Brandon T. McNeal was driving a 1995 Chevrolet Lumina south on Ohio 603 when he lost control of the car and drove off the left side of the road. As the vehicle left the road it rolled onto its top and struck several trees, causing it to catch fire.

Terry L. McNeal was the right front passenger and Cross was the left rear passenger. The 12-year-old was the right rear passenger. Her mother was thrown from the vehicle as it overturned.

Austin and Ryan's 8-year-old granddaughter, Alexis Heffelfinger, were outside playing when they heard tires screeching.

"Austin said it slid sideways, and it went airborne and hit a tree," Ryan said Sunday afternoon. "Our windows actually shook. After it landed, he heard a 'Whoosh,' and the car was in flames."

The two kids came into the house screaming, and after telling them to stay put, Ryan and her husband, Butch Ryan, took off running. Along the way they were joined by the woman who lives across the road and another couple who stopped to help.

Vicki Ryan said they saw Dailey and the man who had stopped pulled her away from the burning car. They checked her for signs of life, but she was dead.

Butch Ryan called for help on his cell phone. He ran on past the car, waving his orange hunter's vest. "He didn't want anyone else to come down the hill," Vicki said.
She and her neighbor and the other couple tried to get closer to the vehicle to see if they could help, but each time they approached there was another blast. They spotted a stuffed animal.

Vicki said the safety forces were on the scene until after 8:30 Saturday night.

"The rescue people were absolutely wonderful. They just did an excellent job." The fire complicated matters for rescue workers, who needed more than three hours to extricate the four people who died in the car.

Patrol personnel interviewed the children about what they had seen.

"That was hard," Vicki said. She described Austin as a compassionate boy who has been asking plenty of questions about how and why the crash happened. He's heading to camp this week, which his mom thinks will be a welcome distraction. Standing in front of their home later, the boy said this was the first time he had seen anything like that. He said it has been hard to get out of his mind.

Vicki, a fiscal assistant at The Ohio State University-Mansfield, said she doesn't want to drive up the hill and will take another route at least for a while. She doesn't even remember getting to the scene that keeps replaying over and over in her mind.

"It's not going to go away," she said.