The following is from the front page article in the May 3 edition of The Hutchinson News. I've been told that Daniel is being put to rest in his wrestling sweats, and the pallbearers will be his wrestling teammates in their sweats.
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Danny Douglas-Delgado lived every day to the fullest
By Sarah Hill, Hutchinson News
If there was a blueprint for the perfect son and brother, Danny Douglas-Delgado would have matched it.
Known best by his last name, Delgado, the Hutchinson High School wrestler was recognized for his talents on the mat and in the auto body department. He died Saturday morning, the victim of an accidental shooting at 11th and Main on Friday.
His mother, Shannon Delgado, keeps reminding herself to talk about Danny in the past tense, changing each verb to the proper one in her head before speaking aloud.
"He was amazing," she said. "He lived every day to the fullest, always smiling. He was just incredible."
Sure, she said, there were the fights with his sisters, the long and scary jumps off of the couch as a toddler, the "orneriness" that comes with being a young boy.
But he was always a mentor to his younger sisters and a role model to his family.
"The main thing I learned from him, and I think this is true for most of our friends and family, was just to enjoy life and stop being so serious," she said.
When he wasn't wrestling, Delgado, 16, was involved in ju-jitsu and mechanics. Enrolled in the high school's auto program, he aspired to work on cars as a career.
His true passion, though, was wrestling.
"He loved it when I came to watch him," said Danny's girlfriend, Dessarae Toledo. "He'd get mad when I wasn't there. He would always notice."
"He had a lot of potential," said Mike Garcia, Delgado's wrestling coach at Hutchinson High. "He was a hard-working kid, and he enjoyed what he was doing. I'm sure he would have wrestled varsity in the future."
Teammates and classmates seemed to be holding up well at school, Garcia said.
"Of course, everyone's different," he said. "It's just like with adults. Some have dealt with it pretty good, but it's something most have never had to deal with."
Guidance counselors are on hand as long as necessary for students who need to talk about the accident, Hutchinson High Principal Ronn Roehm said.
"Each teacher tries to read the situation, and we go from there," he said.
Delgado had a "way of making you like him," Roehm said.
It was something that Toledo loved as well.
"He taught me that there are good guys out there," she said.
She was there at the hospital with Delgado's parents, Shannon Delgado and Junior Nunez, when he passed away.
"His surgery was eight hours long, and he wasn't supposed to live through it," Shannon Delgado said. "But he held in there so we could say goodbye. He didn't wake up, but he knew that we were there."
Delgado was riding in a car with three others on Friday afternoon when one of the others produced a handgun, according to the Hutchinson Police Department. The gun went off in the back seat, with the bullet striking Delgado, who was sitting in the front seat.
Shannon Delgado said she and her family do not want charges pressed against the three boys in the car.
"We are upset with the situation, but that was an accident," she said. "We love each of the boys, and we want to help them get through this."
The police department sent a report to the District Attorney's office but continues to investigate the case, said Lt. John Tracy. As of Monday afternoon, no charges had been filed against anyone connected with the case.
