Slain mother of 8 honored at Riverside County vigil days after missing toddler son found safe

SAN JACINTO, Calif. (KABC) -- A candlelight vigil in San Jacinto on Tuesday night honored the life of Natasha Denise Barlow, who was found dead earlier this week after allegedly being killed by the father of her toddler son.

The boy was allegedly abducted by his father, triggering an Amber Alert that was later deactivated when the child was found safe and the suspect taken into custody.

Barlow, 43, is survived by eight children. Her daughter said the loss of her mom is devastating to their family.

"I'm mad and I'm sad because he took my mom from us," Ashlee Molina said at the vigil, referring to her mother's accused killer. "He took her from my son and my daughter -- she was a grandma and she was a mother -- so I'm very upset."

The family is relieved that Barlow's 2-year-old son, Celestine Stoot III, is safe after his father, 42-year-old Celestine Stoot Jr., allegedly took the child across state lines to Las Vegas. Riverside County sheriffs officials said the elder Stoot was behind bars in a Clark County, Nevada jail.

A man suspected of abducting his 2-year-old son in Riverside County and killing the boy's mother has been taken into custody and the child has been recovered safely, authorities said Tuesday evening.

"It makes me feel good, but it still won't bring her back to me," Barlow's former boyfriend, Michael Molina, said of the arrest. "To me, he got it easy. You know, we got it hard right now. He got it easy."

Loved ones are struggling to come to terms with their new reality without Barlow, the matriarch of their family.

"I mean, I still wait for her to call me in the morning," Michael Molina said. "She always called me. It was her daily routine. She called me, we talked, we'd communicate. And I don't have that communication anymore, so it's just me"