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E. Columbus Classmates Remember Young Drowning Victim

Updated: Thursday, March 7 2013, 08:06 PM EST
COLUMBUS -- Students at Leawood Elementary School in East Columbus remembered a classmate Thursday on what would have been the boy's 6th birthday. 
 
Elijah Walker drowned in an icy pond near his parent's apartment last month.
 
Lakewood students released dozens of balloons to wish him a happy birthday.
 
"He can see the balloons up in the sky," said his friend and classmate Alex Hatcher.  "He is in heaven."
 
Some of the balloons included hand-written notes with messages such as, "I love Elijah".
 
"As they were launching them, they said, 'he'll read mine first I'm sure,'" said Elijah's Kindergarten teacher Kay Hickman.
 
Elijah's family watched as the students shouted "happy birthday" while watching the balloons drift away.
 
"He received all this love up there," said his father Lorenzo Butler.  "In heaven, he is enjoying his birthday balloons from his classmates."

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Reporter: Ben Garbarek
Web Producer: Ken HinesE. Columbus Classmates Remember Young Drowning Victim