Peoria High School Students Raising Money for Classmate's Burial Services
By: Alexandra Sutter WMBD/WYZZ
Updated: February 28, 2013
18-year-old Darnell Hunter, Jr. passed
away suddenly on February 20 from a severe infection and pneumonia.
His death came as a shock to his PHS
classmates. Senior Bre Davis said, "When I found out that he passed away last
week, it really devastated me."
Davis said she was close to DJ. She
said he was quiet, but friendly and he never asked for much.
Davis always tried to help him out.
She even wrote his obituary. She said, "I always made sure I said hi to him,
gave him money, bought him stuff."
Davis and several other seniors are
trying to raise enough money to pay for his burial services. Beyond that, they
hope to have something at the school to honor him.
Student Ky'shana Bailey said, "We know
that he is in a better place and people here care for him and we still want to
try to do as much as we can for him."
Both students said the hardest part
will come in May, when his chair sits empty at their graduation ceremony. It
was a milestone DJ was really looking forward to. Davis said, "Most of us was
rooting for him on to graduate because he told me he was going to ICC. So we
were like 'you got this, five more months and you walk across that stage.'"
For now, DJ's classmates are doing
their best to make sure he gets everything he deserves.
Bailey said, "We want to have
something up for him at the school because he really died a Lion."
Memorial services for DJ are scheduled
for Friday.
If you want to help these students,
you can call Peoria High School at (309) 672-6630 or you can send the high
school a check. You can make it out to Peoria High School and put an attention
to "Darnell Hunter Memorial Fund."
