WARREN, Mich. (WXYZ) — Family and friends of two men gathered for a vigil after a fully marked Warren Police Department vehicle collided with their SUV, killing them and critically injuring two officers.
Best friends DeJuan Pettis and Cedric Hayden died Monday after the crash around 5 a.m. on Prospect Avenue and Schoenherr Road in Warren. Loved ones gathered at the location on Tuesday to pay their respects.
"I had a phone call from the hospital and as I sat down on the couch, turned the TV on and I saw a white Durango, I said God, that's not my son's truck, that's not my son's truck," Pettis' mom Charisse Brown said.
Watch our report after the crash happened below:
Hayden, 34 was pronounced dead at the scene. Brown's oldest son Pettis was rushed to the hospital, but doctors were not able to revive the 33-year-old.
"I'm not doing good," Brown said.
"None of us are doing good. He was a good young man," Pettis' aunt Valonda Green said.
"I had a good son. He has two kids," Brown said.
Pettis leaves behind 7- and 9-year-old sons along with his mom, aunt and cousins.
"Everybody loved him. We were cousins, but that was my brother. We grew up together," said Khandia Evans, Pettis' cousin, said.
"He was like a son to me. I would keep him with me while she (mom) was at work," Green said.
Hayden and Pettis had been friends since middle school. Hayden worked at Stellantis, while Pettis worked at General Motors.
"If you didn't see them together, you would be like, what?!" Evans said.
Pettis was spending the day off with his friend on the fateful day, heading to Hayden's home in the white Dodge Durango, which Pettis had bought a few months ago.
"DeJuan is our family, but Cedric was too. He was a brother to me; he was a son to her. They were friends since 12 years old," Evans said.
Now, both families want to know how the crash happened.
"What's bothering me is that I'm looking at the car and I'm just looking at how the cars look," said Maurice Perkins, Pettis' cousin.
"Obviously, this was a car accident," Lt. John Gajewski with the Warren Police Department said.
Gajewski says while traveling on Schoenherr near Prospect, the officers struck the white Dodge Durango, which was attempting to turn westbound onto Prospect from Schoenherr. Police also say that the officers were not engaged in a pursuit of the white Dodge Durango or any other vehicle when the crash occurred.
"We want to know lots of things, and one of the things we have done to ensure impartiality for transparency is call the Macomb County Sheriff's Department to do an independent investigation. We owe that to everybody here to make sure that the right information is obtained," Gajewski said.
"If DeJuan was here right now, what would you tell him?" I asked Brown.
"I would hug my son," Brown responded.
"He wasn't the type of person who would wait for you to embrace him. When he sees you, he's going to show love," Evans said.
"He always whispered in my ear, 'Mama, I'm going to take care of you,'" Brown said.
In the crash, the officer in the passenger seat was freed from the vehicle and underwent extensive surgery. Police say as of Tuesday morning, both officers remain hospitalized in stable condition.
Meanwhile, the Macomb County Sheriff's Office will share the investigation results in two to three weeks.
