For a Little Boy, He Left a Big Impression

Anthony Ferris, crushed beneath a park bench Monday while frolicking with friends in an after-school program, was an engaging 8-year-old whose good looks and intelligence made him a standout.

Like many boys his age, he loved skateboards and baseball, but he had other, more uncommon gifts that left a sharp impression on those who knew him as “Tony.” They described him as an articulate and athletic boy who worked at making others smile.

“I have a vivid memory of him,” said Gabriella Moody, who until last October ran the South Coast YMCA after-school program in which Tony was participating at the time of his death. “He was always telling jokes and always trying to make you laugh. He is somewhere today with a smile on his face.”

The boy was killed Monday at Chapparosa Park in Laguna Niguel when the 800-pound concrete bench toppled on him. Witnesses told police that four boys were playing on the bench at the time, and the death has sparked an investigation.

Tony lived with his mother, Tracy Ferris, in a Laguna Niguel apartment complex. She centered much of her life on the boy, recently volunteering as a den mother for his Cub Scout troop, those who knew the family said. Tony’s father lived in Utah with the boy’s sister.

Bonnie Howell, whose son Justin attended school with Tony, said both boys were especially excited about being Scouts together.

“Tony was a very carefree, happy-go-lucky boy,” she said. “This news just hurts me.”

As with others at Hidden Hills Elementary School in the Capistrano Unified School District, Justin was unprepared to deal with the news about his pal, Howell said.

“He didn’t react when he heard the news Monday,” Howell said Tuesday. “He [finally] cried today.”

At school Tuesday, counselors devised games and projects to make the children confront their grief and fears in an effort to help them cope. They wrote letters to Tony’s mother. They drew pictures and posters too.

“They are going through a myriad of emotions,” said school psychologist Brett Ellison. “Some of the kids are sad or distraught, others play more aggressively.”

Tony’s school supplies remained at his desk Tuesday. Classmates dropped off letters and flowers at his desk.

Danny Escamilla, 10, described him as a close friend.

“He was a good kid,” Danny said. “He was a good basketball player. I’m going to miss him.”

Moody on Tuesday recalled Tony as a popular youth in the YMCA program that cared for children on the elementary school campus before and after classes.

“Anthony was a blond-haired towhead” and was “really cute, one of the cutest boys in the program,” she said, adding that he often surprised her with his insight.

“He could just read adults very well,” Moody said. “He was much older than his years, a lot older, but he was still a kid.”