(WKYT) – A week after 4-year-old Rhett Oliver Luttrell was killed in a fireworks accident, his father is sharing memories of the boy he described as “the best human and soul I have ever met.”
Rhett died Saturday night, July 4, after being struck by a fireworks projectile during a Fourth of July gathering at a home on Jacksboro Road in the Ferguson community, officials said.
Investigators said a fireworks box tilted around 10 p.m. and the projectile struck Rhett in the torso and chest. He was taken to Lake Cumberland Regional Hospital, where the deputy coroner pronounced him dead around 11 p.m.
Father’s tribute
Mike Luttrell said Rhett was “adventurous, brave and already so funny,” with “the sweetest laugh and giggle imaginable.” He described his son as “sweet, kind and very loving.”
Luttrell referenced a photo of Rhett smiling in the passenger seat of his truck, saying it was “his favorite spot — to be beside me in my truck.”
Dinosaurs, monster trucks and hide-and-seek
Luttrell said Rhett loved dinosaurs and could name them all. “T Rex is the strongest and Mosasaurs is the biggest,” Rhett would say, according to his father. Rhett also loved monster trucks, with El Toro Loco becoming a recent favorite. “All monster trucks are cool,” he told his family.
His father said Rhett loved playing hide-and-seek and would tell him, “I wanna sneak on you,” before following him through the house with a grin.
Family and daycare
Luttrell said Rhett loved sleepovers at his grandparents’ home. “He would say, ‘nanny loves me,’” Luttrell said.
Rhett also loved daycare and would come running at pickup time yelling “daddy daddy” and jumping into his father’s arms. The family said he was beginning to cheer for the Kentucky Wildcats, saying, “Go the blue team, Go Kentucky Wildcats!”
Funeral services for Rhett Oliver Luttrell were held Thursday.