Cedric Hayden Sr. bows his head in prayer during a vigil for his son, Cedric Hayden Jr., and his friend DeJuan Pettis on Sept. 30, the one-year anniversary of their deaths.

Photo by Brian Wells

WARREN — On the one-year anniversary of their deaths, family members of Cedric Hayden Jr. and DeJuan Pettis gathered at the corner of Schoenherr Road and Prospect Avenue in Warren, holding red and blue balloons and praying.

“We’re Detroit fans, we always loved the blue. My son loved the color red. We did a mixture of that together,” said Cedric Hayden Sr., Cedric Hayden Jr.’s father.

Former Warren police officer James Burke was driving a police SUV, allegedly without emergency lights and sirens at speeds of more than 110 mph, on Schoenherr in Warren at around 5 a.m. Sept. 30, 2024, when he hit a

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