boxing day 2012: Connecticut School shooting victim: Grace McDonnell, 6, described as 'adorable little doll'

Saturday, December 15, 2012

Connecticut School shooting victim: Grace McDonnell, 6, described as 'adorable little doll'

By Daniel Bates and James Nye In Newtown, Connecticut

PUBLISHED: 23:32 EST, 14 December 2012 | UPDATED: 23:51 EST, 14 December 2012

The youngest named victim so far of the Newtown school massacre is a girl of six who was 'utterly adorable'.

Grace McDonnell had eyes that were so blue and hair that was so blonde that friends thought she looked like a 'little doll'.

She seemed 'full of life' and brought a smile to the face of neighbors who used to see her in the street.

W5Traumatized students were seen being led out of the school crying and holding hands. Traumatized students were seen being led out of the school crying and holding hands

Prayers: Mourners prayed for the 20 children and six adults killed in Newtown, Connecticut, on Friday

But now after she was shot dead in the mass slaying her parents are going through 'indescribable' pain, MailOnline has learned.

In another chilling twist Lynn McDonnell, 45, a housewife, and Christopher, 49, a business executive, live in a $500,000 detached home in Sandy Hook, Connecticut that is just one street away from where alleged shooter Adam Lanza lived.

From their front window they can almost see the home where the man who allegedly murdered their daughter is said to have slain his own mother before embarking on the murderous spree.

The only consolation for the McDonnells is that they have another son, Jack, 11, who is alive and well.

Neighbor Dorothy Werden, 49, a stay at home mother, said: 'I just choke up when I think about it. Grace was like a little doll. She was utterly adorable.

Tears: Parents sob outside Sandy Hook Elementary School, where 25 people were gunned down

'I used to see her waiting for the school bus over the road from our house every day.

'She had blonde hair and blue eyes - she was like a little Barbie doll.

'When I saw Lynn and Christopher at the school with Lynn being held up by a nun I knew things were not good. I can't imagine what they are going through.'

A male neighbor who declined to be named said: 'What they are going through is indescribable. We are very close. It's just awful'.

When MailOnline knocked on Mr and Mrs McDonnell's door they both came downstairs in a visible state of distress.

Mrs McDonnell was wearing her pajamas and her husband was wearing a white T-shirt and jeans.

They declined to comment.