PRESTONSBURG – Pink and white balloons filled the air Tuesday at Cliff Road in Prestonsburg, as friends of Destiny Brewer gathered at Dance Etc. to share their grief and memories of the 10-year-old who died of injuries following an automobile accident involving an impaired driver last week.

Brewer was a popular student at the dance studio, and her friends wrote messages to her that were attached to the balloons. A poem written by Jody Shepherd also took flight in memory of Brewer. The large crowd spent over an hour comforting each other and members of Brewer’s family, including her mother, both before and after the memorial event.

“None of us know what to do,” said Shepherd, owner of Dance Etc. “We miss her. It’s unfair and we are mad and angry. We wanted to come together and write messages to Destiny. We need to grieve and tell stories about her.”

According to police, Brewer was a passenger in a vehicle driven by her grandmother when a car driven by Ross Brandon Sluss collided with them in Martin County. Two other children were treated and released from the hospital. Blanche Robinson, Brewer’s grandmother, is currently in intensive care.

Police say that Sluss was under the influence of drugs at the time of the accident.

After the death of Destiny Brewer, Sluss was charged with murder. Sluss is currently being held on a $100,000 cash bond and is scheduled to be back in court for a preliminary hearing on July 6.