The guitar player strummed.
The trumpet player sang.
And Kelly Young sat in the audience with her youngest daughter, trying to hold back her emotions behind dark-tinted sunglasses.
Sunday’s mariachi Mass at the Cinco de Mayo celebration was dedicated in part to Young’s husband, Donnie, a Denver police officer who was shot and killed one year ago today while working security at a party.
“Just hearing them say Donnie’s name and of course walking up there and seeing Donnie’s picture, I don’t even know the word to explain it,” Kelly Young said Sunday after the Mass.
Donnie Young also used to work security at the Cinco de Mayo festival, held annually in Civic Center. He worked at the event May 7 last year before heading over to the Salon Ocampo reception hall, where he was shot early May 8.
Young’s partner that night, Jack Bishop, was wounded in the shooting. He was also at the Mass on Sunday. He said he was touched by the Mass’ being dedicated to Young.
“It just seems like it happened yesterday,” he said of the shooting. “It’s hard to believe a year has gone by and we’re back here celebrating Cinco de Mayo.”
Today, Denver police will place a memorial sign honoring Young outside Salon Ocampo, 1733 W. Mississippi Ave.
Sunday’s Mass was also dedicated to Luis Romero Jr., a young man also killed a year ago after the Cinco de Mayo celebration. The Mass was also in memory of four other people.
But Young’s presence loomed largest. A framed photo of Young, in which he is smiling broadly, sat just below the altar, with flower bouquets flanking either side.
Several officers attended the service.
“We miss him terribly,” Kelly Young said. “There’s not a day that goes by without us thinking about him and missing him.”
Staff writer John Ingold can be reached at 720-929-0898 or jingold@denverpost.com.
