About 50 relatives, friends, teachers and former classmates gathered Thursday at Nelson Park to mark what would have been Dustin DeWitt’s 22nd birthday with dancing, musical performances and stories about the way he made people feel.
DeWitt, a Stockton native who was fatally stabbed in downtown Sacramento in March, would have turned 22. Mayor Christina Fugazi joined the celebration to present his family with a proclamation recognizing every July 30 as Dustin DeWitt Day.
The gathering took place at the same park where hundreds had gathered for a candlelight vigil two days after DeWitt’s death. Nearly five months later, the candles and calls for justice were replaced by music, dancing and stories reflecting the joy he brought to the people around him.
“I just want people to remember him for his kindness, compassion, genuineness and the rare ability to make people feel seen, heard and valued,” his mother, Sokha Hem, told Stocktonia. “He’s the type that wore his heart on his sleeve and would help anyone — everyone, including total strangers.”
A proclamation honoring DeWitt grew out of a request from his longtime friend David Sengthay, who first met him in sixth grade.
Sengthay remembered DeWitt’s family giving him childhood experiences that have remained with him, including his first sleepover and first trip to a movie theater. Those memories returned after DeWitt’s death and led Sengthay to contact the mayor’s office.
“I wanted to do something to immortalize him,” Sengthay told the crowd.
Fugazi acknowledged the pain of experiencing a loved one’s birthday, holiday and family milestone for the first time after their death.
“The first birthday, the first Christmas, the first Thanksgiving, the first Mother’s Day — those are the hardest,” Fugazi said. “You will carry him in your heart and in your mind for all the days of your life.”
The city’s proclamation recognized DeWitt’s kindness, compassion and ability to make others feel welcome, along with his love of animals and the outdoors, dedication to his sisters, passion for music and dreams of traveling the world.
“This is a true testament to the number of lives that Dustin has touched,” Fugazi said.
A life shaped by music
Music was woven throughout Thursday’s celebration and much of DeWitt’s life.
DeWitt participated in school music programs beginning in elementary school and spent four years in the Lincoln High School band. He played percussion in the drumline, Wind Ensemble and marching band before continuing his musical education at San Joaquin Delta College.
Emma Gonzalez met DeWitt through Lincoln’s music program and later performed with him again at Delta. DeWitt’s encouragement changed the direction of her own college experience.
“I personally hadn’t planned on joining band in college, but he encouraged me to, and because of him, I did,” Gonzalez said. “We had the opportunity to perform together once again, sharing rehearsals, creating unforgettable memories and taking a memorable trip to Los Angeles.”
A musical performance followed her tribute, celebrating the joy DeWitt brought into the lives of his friends.
Fourteen years earlier, DeWitt’s stepfather, Dean McLain, first encountered that outgoing personality at another birthday celebration — DeWitt’s eighth.
McLain arrived at the party expecting only a brief introduction. Instead, DeWitt ran up, introduced himself and began asking question after question.
“Where are you from? Where do you work? How did you meet my mom?” McLain recalled.
The conversation eventually reached a subject that particularly interested the 8-year-old.
“For some reason, the conversation always gravitated toward why I don’t have any hair and how long that’s been going on,” McLain said, drawing laughter from the crowd.
Even then, DeWitt stood out as someone who was curious, personable and unafraid to connect with people, McLain said. The last time the two saw each other was the day before DeWitt died.
“He really made it a point to make you feel recognized,” McLain said. “I was very fortunate to meet him that day.”
Remembered for kindness
DeWitt’s compassion was apparent long before he became an adult, according to Glenda Forbing, who taught him eighth-grade English at Cleveland School.
“He was a beautiful soul, a wonderful boy who grew up to be an amazing young man,” Forbing said.
Forbing later encountered her former student while he was working at Marina Market. She remembered the same smile, freckles and warmth she had seen in her classroom years earlier.
“We were lucky enough at Cleveland School to have him and see him grow up to be the beautiful person that he was,” Forbing said. “He will never be forgotten. Never.”
DeWitt graduated from Lincoln High School in 2022, where classmates voted him “Lincoln Most Wanted” during his senior year. He later attended Delta College while working at Marina Market and Dutch Bros, where relatives said his charisma and infectious smile helped him form connections with coworkers and customers.
His life ended March 2 after he and a woman were stabbed near the Downtown Commons in Sacramento. Officers responded to the 400 block of K Street shortly before 9:45 p.m., and both victims were taken to a hospital, where DeWitt died. The woman survived.
Humberto Palacios, 19, of Sacramento, was arrested in April on suspicion of homicide in connection with the stabbing, according to the Sacramento Police Department.
The violence that ended DeWitt’s life, however, occupied little space during Thursday’s celebration. Instead, those who knew him focused on the relationships he formed and the lives that were different because he had been part of them.
Lincoln High School’s band program established a kindness award in DeWitt’s name in May. Hem is also working to create a scholarship foundation that would recognize band students who embody her son’s compassion and generosity.
Through the award, the planned scholarship and the annual city recognition, Hem hopes DeWitt’s name will remain connected to the qualities that defined his life rather than the circumstances of his death.
“He’s what the world needs more of,” Hem said. “The light that shined so brightly with compassion, kindness and humility.”
