{"id":419144,"date":"2026-07-31T06:47:13","date_gmt":"2026-07-31T06:47:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/419144\/"},"modified":"2026-07-31T06:47:13","modified_gmt":"2026-07-31T06:47:13","slug":"loved-ones-honor-dustin-dewitt-on-what-would-have-been-his-22nd-birthday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/419144\/","title":{"rendered":"Loved ones honor Dustin DeWitt on what would have been his 22nd birthday"},"content":{"rendered":"

Loved ones honor Dustin DeWitt on what would have been his 22nd birthday<\/p>\n

\"Andres<\/a>STOCKTON, Calif. \u2014<\/p>\n

Dozens of Dustin DeWitt\u2019s relatives and friends gathered in Stockton on Thursday to celebrate his life on what would have been his 22nd birthday, nearly five months after he was fatally stabbed in downtown Sacramento.<\/p>\n

Green tablecloths, green clothing and photographs of DeWitt filled the memorial at Nelson Park. A friend explained that green was DeWitt\u2019s favorite color.<\/p>\n

\u201cGreen is everywhere,\u201d the friend said. \u201cGreen is in the floor, green is within us, green is Dustin.\u201d<\/p>\n

The gathering was supposed to be DeWitt\u2019s birthday party. Instead, it became a celebration of his life and the effect he had on others.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s supposed to be here. He\u2019s supposed to be celebrating his birthday, creating many more memories with all his friends and the community,\u201d said his mother, Sokha Hem. \u201cIt\u2019s just a big loss. It\u2019s just a huge void that will never be filled.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hem said she wants people to remember her son as more than the victim of a violent crime.<\/p>\n

\u201cDustin is not just a name,\u201d Hem said. \u201cHe\u2019s just incredible \u2014 the way he loved people passionately, deeply, the way he loved all beings. He\u2019s just an incredible soul.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Image\"Image<\/p>\n

Friends said DeWitt had a rare ability to form an immediate connection with nearly everyone he met.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou would think you\u2019d known him for years,\u201d one friend said. \u201cHe just connected with anybody on anything, no matter what it was.\u201d<\/p>\n

One of DeWitt\u2019s childhood friends said he contacted Stockton Mayor Christina Fugazi\u2019s office and asked the city to recognize July 30 as Dustin DeWitt Day. City leaders presented a proclamation honoring DeWitt during the memorial.<\/p>\n

DeWitt was 21 when he and a woman were stabbed March 2 near the Yard House restaurant at Sacramento\u2019s Downtown Commons, according to police. Both were taken to a hospital, where DeWitt died. The woman survived.<\/p>\n

DeWitt\u2019s family believes he was trying to protect the woman, who was his friend, when he was stabbed.<\/p>\n

Sacramento police later arrested Humberto Palacios in connection with the attack. Palacios, who was 19 when he was arrested and has since turned 20, faces a homicide-related charge. His next court hearing is scheduled for mid-September.<\/p>\n

DeWitt\u2019s stepfather, Dean McLain, said the family will continue seeking justice.<\/p>\n

\u201cDustin was a fighter throughout his whole life,\u201d McLain said. \u201cNow it\u2019s our turn to continue that fight for Dustin and seek justice.\u201d<\/p>\n

The family is also creating a scholarship in DeWitt\u2019s name for a student who demonstrates the kindness, compassion and resilience they said defined his life.<\/p>\n

\u201cAlthough we wish he were here with us today, his spirit continues to live on through the love he shared, the lives he touched and the memories we hold close to our hearts,\u201d a friend said during the memorial.<\/p>\n

Hem said the number of people who attended showed that her son\u2019s ability to bring people together continues after his death.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s touched so many lives, and I think his spirit still continues because it\u2019s bringing everybody here together,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

See more coverage of top California stories here<\/a> | Download our app<\/a> | Subscribe to our morning newsletter<\/a> | Find us on YouTube here and subscribe to our channel<\/a>. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Loved ones honor Dustin DeWitt on what would have been his 22nd birthday STOCKTON, Calif. \u2014 Dozens of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":419145,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[167562,14852,30705,167558,167560,17840,6787,37491,94183,1431,1576,167561,167563,1637,24282,592,121,123,122,9123,167559,1878,1557],"class_list":["post-419144","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sacramento","tag-22nd-birthday","tag-andres-valle","tag-birthday","tag-dean-mclain","tag-dewitt","tag-doco","tag-downtown-sacramento","tag-dustin","tag-dustin-dewitt","tag-family","tag-friend","tag-green-clothing","tag-immediate-connection","tag-life","tag-memorial","tag-people","tag-sacramento","tag-sacramento-headlines","tag-sacramento-news","tag-sacramento-police","tag-sokha-hem","tag-stabbing","tag-woman"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/419144","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=419144"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/419144\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/419145"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=419144"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=419144"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=419144"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}