ORLANDO, Fla. – A community came together in a volunteer-based festival over the weekend to honor a member lost after a well-known club promoter was slain back in January.
More than 1,500 people attended P-Day at the Central Florida Fairgrounds on Saturday.
As people enjoyed the festivities, shows and vendors in the outfield of the kickball field, you can see the picture of one man, Dereck Cummings.
“It’s kind of bittersweet because you know like Antwuan Miles you know, Dereck, he always wanted to do it,” Miles Mulrain said.
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Mulrain is a close friend of Cummings who was a local club promoter going by the name Antwuan Miles.
He was shot and killed in January at his Casselberry home. Police arrested DaQuan Woods and Bobbby Bridges for his murder.
“It hurts, I’m just really dedicated all of this to him because he treated my birthday like his birthday,” said Paul Josaphat who is the creator of P-Day.
He tells News 6 Cummings was an instrumental part of P-Day helping with promotions and organization.
Josaphat explains he is the “P” for P-day and tells News 6 this annual free festival first started in Apopka to celebrate his birthday, but now 6 years later it has grown into an event bringing the community closer together.
This year being the first year it has been held at the Central Florida Fairgrounds.
“I just want them to see that we can come together and have fun without violence where you don’t got to do the most,” Josaphat said.
Josaphat says with Cummings gone, his mother Tuwanan Ware has taken some of the reigns her son held and helped organize the event this year.
“Now that the two are behind bars the healing process has begun,” said Tuwanan Ware who shares now that the two suspects accused of killing her son is behind bars her family can be at peace moving forward.
Ware says while this day is about Josphat and Cummings, its also about the community and helping local vendors grow their business.
Crystal Lee who is the owner of Catering to the Soul said, “We love to eat, we love to cook, it’s good for the soul and it’s great to bring my grandkids and get together on a positive note.”
Ware agrees and added, “We have so much negative light on the African-American community thus far and to have P-day to come out and have it at the Central Florida Fair grounds is huge.”
Ware says she can still feel her son in this event as she stood in her son’s place to bring this event together.
Going forward, people we spoke to say they know cummings is smiling seeing P-day grow.
We ain’t never gone let his memory die, it’s all Miles, no brakes,” Mulrain said.
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