Vigil held for man with local ties killed in Orlando massacre

GEORGETOWN, Ky. (WTVQ) Mourners sing in front of the Scott County Courthouse in remembrance of Darryl Burt II, a boy many knew as he was growing up by DJ.

Darlne Wilson, leading the vigil, tells the crowd, “We want to continue to remember Daryl, his family, and all those and lift them up in prayer.”

For some like DJ’s former art teacher Kitty Dougoud the world is a little bit smaller without him.

She says, “You never really think you’re going to know somebody when a tragedy happens that far away and for it to somebody that you actually taught as a child was really hard.”

The news of DJ’s passing caught many here in Central Kentucky off guard, like Georgetown Middle School custodian Cynthia Talbert.

Talbert says, “It was heartbreaking for us at GMS, we lost a family member.”

Darlene Wilson was Daryl’s Sunday School teacher and decided to have the vigil to let Darryl’s mother know they feel for her.

Wilson says, “I wanted to do something in remembrance to let her know that we haven’t forgotten her. Just because she’s absent here in body, she’s not absent in our heart.”

Mourners also paused to remember the 48 other families who lost a loved one that tragic day a week ago. It’s a tragedy that for so many in this tight nit community hits home.

Talbert says, “It’s sad. I mean it’s just like hurting your own family. Darryl was close to us at GMS. Like our former principal once said, once a buffalo always a buffalo.”

Dougoud says, “I think you have to celebrate you know his life. I always think things happen for as a reason, and even though we don’t understand the reason at the time. You just have to celebrate DJ’s time with us and hope that something really good comes out of this.