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Alabama child receives special gift at father's gravesite

FORT PAYNE, Ala. — Two-year-old Braxton Wells went to visit the Alabama gravesite of his father, Cody, after opening gifts on Christmas Day. When he arrived at Glenwood Cemetery in Fort Payne, the toddler found a box of toys at his father’s grave.

"He thought that his daddy had flew down from heaven to surprise him," said Braxton’s mother, Danielle Ogle.

Cody Wells, a 23-year-old corrections officer in Fort Payne, drove off the road at 3:30 a.m. on April 3 and was immediately killed when the 2014 Focus he was driving left the road, overturned and struck a tree, WNHT reported.

"He works for the police department. Of course I thought it was Cody coming to the door because he forgot his keys or something,” Ogle told WNHT. “They told me he had a wreck and he didn't make it.”

Braxton and his mother visit Cody Wells’ grave every day at lunchtime. On Christmas day, they were greeted with a surprise gift on the site.

"The first thing that he said when he opened up the present was, 'Mommy I'm so excited to know what my daddy has left me' ... because he thought his daddy
had forgotten him and that Daddy had forgotten to leave him a present." Ogle told WHNT.

Chris Blake, who designed Cody's headstone, left the box of toys on the site as a gift from Braxton's father.

Ogle leaves toys at the gravesite so Braxton can still play with his father. So to have these toy cars added was very special, Ogle said.

"Just to see the smile on his face meant the world to me because he's been a very unhappy little boy for a long time," she said.