Family and friends gather to remember young mother killed in Durham
DURHAM, NC (WTVD) -- More than a hundred people gathered Monday night in Durham to honor a young mother who was killed last Thursday.
That candlelight vigil was held at the site where 24-year-old Brooke Lyn Maynard lost her life.
"I still can't believe it in a way," said Alli Ange, who worked with Maynard at Cook Out in Roxboro. It was Ange's first job.
"We lost a great person -- her personality was infectious," Ange said. "She was so happy and she loved life -- I just wish this had never happened."
Maynard's father and other family members including her 4-year-old daughter, Chloe, were also in attendance.
Mourners lit candles to honor Maynard's life but also observed 24 seconds of silence - one for every year of her life.
"She went through the process, she passed with flying colors --she did all the pushups and sit-ups," said Alicia McKinney, who works for the Durham County Sheriff's Office and spoke about Maynard's time at the academy.
Maynard passed the academy and became a detention officer in November 2017. She was the only female in her class.
McKinney has been with the sheriff's office since 1990.
"It just goes to show we are family," she said. "It doesn't matter if she started in 2017, but she's family. Law enforcement, regardless of what entity you are in, we all bleed blue. We're all in support of each other."
McKinney was one of a handful from the Durham County Sheriff's Office -- including Sheriff Mike Andrews -- to attend the vigil.
Maynard's grandfather Danny also worked for the sheriff's office as well as the Durham Police Department, so it seems Brooke Lyn was trying to follow in his footsteps.
Sadly, that path was cut short, coincidentally, by a Durham Police chase of a suspected stolen vehicle that ended with three cars crashed and Maynard an innocent victim of circumstance.
The two men in the stolen vehicle appeared in court Monday. The driver admitted to using crack and drinking alcohol before the deadly crash.
