Chaplain: Middletown hotel scene “most wrenching” in his career

Ferrell has served as a chaplain for 12 years, and he called the scene at the hotel the “most wrenching” in his career.

“There was a lot of just sadness, a lot of tears,” he said. “Just the brutality of what had taken place. It was a hopeless situation that was very tragic.”

What message did he deliver to the first responders?

“No apologies needed for emotion,” he said. “I thanked them for being heroic and I thanked them for being good parents.”

The death of the 5-year-old is at least the third against a child in the area in the last several months.

He said the boy who died is being held by the heavenly Father “and that gives me hope. Hope beyond the tragedy of this earth, hope beyond the evil, hope beyond the sadness.”