Castle Rock – There’s another child grieving for a father gunned down at a Denver baptismal party on Sunday.
But unlike Donald “Donnie” Young’s two daughters, 7-year- old Tanner Segura has not been mentioned in numerous news conferences the police have had since Young, 43, was killed.
His mother, Lisa Segura, 38, said she believes it’s just another form of rejection for the boy born while Young was separated from his wife, Kelly Young.
The officials “were treating him like he was a disgrace,” Tanner’s mother said. “It has hurt a lot. He had no choice in this.”
Today, Lisa Segura and Tanner will attend Donald Young’s funeral, in part to give Tanner a connection to his father he never had when Young was alive.
Segura met Donald Young when he was a bouncer in Colorado Springs before he got married, she said.
She was 19, working in her father’s restaurant, and he was six years older. For several years the relationship was platonic, she said. But after Donald Young separated from his wife and moved to Denver, their relationship became romantic. Tanner was born.
Donald Young has always paid child support, and Tanner will receive death benefits. The little boy got a birthday card from his father for his first birthday, but only once did he visit the son who bears a striking resemblance to him.
Although he was 3, Tanner remembers the meeting, Segura said. He got a small Beanie Baby bear, a memento from the All- Star baseball game in Denver.
Tanner has asked about his father over the years, she said.
“‘How come my daddy won’t see me?”‘ Segura said Tanner asked. “‘How come I can’t play with my daddy? I just want a daddy.”‘
Segura said Young wanted to do more for his son. He told her he felt guilty that he didn’t.
“I believe Tanner was always in Donnie’s heart,” Segura said.
Since he learned about his father’s shooting death, he has mostly been quiet about it, Segura said.
“‘I’m going to sleep with my bear,”‘ he told his mom. “‘My daddy gave it to me.”‘
On Thursday afternoon, Tanner, who is missing a front tooth, was playing with the Beanie Baby on the dining room table of his house.
“My dad got it from a baseball game,” he said.
Tanner was in a small reading group in his first-grade class this week when the teacher asked what was the saddest thing that happened to them, Segura related.
“‘My daddy died,”‘ Tanner told the class. “‘He was the police officer who got shot at the baptism.”‘
Segura said she was glad he opened up, adding that his classmates comforted him.
Police officers brought Tanner a toy police car Wednesday and told him that Denver Police Chief Gerry Whitman wants to meet him.
“I want him to feel proud,” Segura said. “I think every boy wants to know his daddy was a hero. I don’t want him to feel that no one cared about him. That’s what I want out of this.”
Staff writer Kirk Mitchell can be reached at 303-820-1206 or kmitchell@denverpost.com.