Boy, 7, clutches badge of dad he didn't know

Mother, son sit quietly in church at Young's funeral

Brian D. Crecente, Rocky Mountain News

Published May 14, 2005 at midnight

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Tanner Segura sat quietly in a pew at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception on Friday, clutching the badge of the father he never knew.

"We were just there trying to let Tanner have some part of his dad," said Lisa Marie Segura, 38.

Tanner, 7, was born while Detective Donald Young was separated from his wife, Kelly Young. The boy met his father only once, but Donald Young made it a point to hand-deliver his monthly child support checks and stayed in touch with the boy's mother.

Lisa Marie Segura, who now lives in Castle Rock, met Young about 19 years ago in Colorado Springs when he worked as a bouncer at a bar before he married Kelly Young. Donald Young later had two daughters with Kelly Young.

"We remained friends and I always hoped he would be a part of (Tanner's) life," said Segura, who last spoke to Young last week.

Segura said police called her Sunday morning to tell her the father of her child had been shot and killed.

Tanner hasn't talked about the death with his mother, worrying that he might upset her, Segura said.

"I don't think he's talked as much to me because he wants to protect me," she said. "He doesn't want to tell me things; he's afraid it will hurt me."

But Tanner told a teacher and some classmates about the death.

"One of the boys in his class told him it was OK to cry if he wanted to," Segura said.

Friday the mother and child came to Denver and silently slipped into the last row of the section of seating reserved for family at Young's funeral.

"One of Donnie's cousins turned around and said, 'Are you Tanner?' " Segura said. "She cried and cried and hugged him and then hugged me.

"Then she started telling everybody in the rows that that was Tanner. They tried to talk to him but there is not much you can say to a 7-year-old."

The cousin invited Tanner and his mom to a family barbecue.

"Tanner was really excited about meeting them," she said. "He just kept talking about the barbecue he was invited to. He kept telling me he wanted to meet his sisters."

But it was his father's badge, given to him by two uniformed officers at the funeral, that really touched Tanner's heart.

"It was his detective badge, Tanner hasn't let it go since," Segura said. "He took it with him in his backpack today when he went to soccer. He wanted to show his friend Tyler. He's proud of it; he's very proud of it."

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