BOSTON (AP) - Third-grader Martin Richard had just gotten ice cream and was near the Boston Marathon finish line, eagerly watching for friends to run by. Krystle Campbell was enjoying the race with her best friend, hoping to get a photo of the other woman's boyfriend after he conquered the last mile.
Then the unthinkable struck. The spirited 8-year-old with a wide grin who dressed up one Halloween as Woody from "Toy Story" was dead, along with the outgoing 29-year-old woman and a Boston University graduate student - victims of twin blasts that turned a scene of celebration into chaos.
While mourning the dead Tuesday, friends and neighbors tried to focus on positive memories of cherished ones whose deaths still seemed unreal to them.
"I just can't get a handle on it," said Jack Cunningham, a longtime friend of little Martin and his family. "In an instant, life changes."
Cunningham recalled how, as a pint-sized preschooler, the boy had insisted on getting out of his stroller during a 5K race in South Boston. As soon as his mom let him out to run with the rest of the family, Martin took off along the rainy race course.
"He was just having a ball, splashing in every puddle," Cunningham said.
The boy's father, Bill Richard, released a statement thanking friends, family and strangers for their support following his son's death.
Richard's wife, Denise, and the couple's 6-year-old daughter, Jane, suffered serious injuries in the blasts. Their older son, Henry, wasn't hurt. Two neighbors said that Jane lost one of her legs in the attack.
"My dear son, Martin, has died from injuries sustained in the attack on Boston," Richard said. "My wife and daughter are both recovering from serious injuries. We thank our family and friends, those we know and those we have never met, for their thoughts and prayers. I ask that you continue to pray for my family as we remember Martin."
In Medford, William Campbell described his daughter, Krystle, as the light of his life, "a very caring, very loving person."
"Daddy's little girl," the 56-year-old said.
His wife, Patty Campbell, her voice breaking into tears, said the couple was "heartbroken at the death of our daughter."
"She was a wonderful person. Everybody that knew her loved her. ... She had a heart of gold. She was always smiling. You couldn't ask for a better daughter," the mother said. "This doesn't make sense."
Their daughter's best friend, Karen Rand, suffered a severe leg injury in the blasts. "She's very badly hurt, she's all messed up," Campbell said. "Her leg was all destroyed."