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| Danny Overstreet's funeral |
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Printed Sept. 24, 2000
By JON CAWLEY
THE ROANOKE TIMES
Danny Lee Overstreet had a family that loved him. He had a poodle named Friday that was his world. And the man with a quick and hearty laugh had a regular job like many in Roanoke.
Overstreet also had a sexual orientation that cost him his life.
He was gay.
For that, an angry stranger sentenced him to death.
A burst of gunfire at a dimly lit Salem Avenue bar struck seven people.
Overstreet, closest to the gunman, took a bullet in his chest. The 43-year-old crumpled to the floor of the Backstreet Cafe.
Several of Overstreet's family members were at his home on Spring Hollow Avenue in Northwest Roanoke on Saturday afternoon changing the locks, but they still can't believe he won't come home again.
Overstreet wasn't a drinker -- it was the socializing that brought him to the cafe on a semi-regular basis, they said.
Danny's mother, Ann Overstreet, said she was awakened by a friend of Danny's ringing her doorbell about 1 a.m. She was told to " 'Hurry up, get your clothes,’ ” she said.
There was no other explanation.
"I was thinking, what happened? A car accident?" Ann Overstreet recalled. "But nothing like this. I cannot believe what happened."
The pain showed in the dull gaze of her eyes. It sounded through words that still refer to her son as if he were still alive.
"He's my youngest, my baby," she said.
The two were very close. Overstreet had a beautician's license but worked for Verizon as a customer service representative. He would perm his mother's hair, she said.
Mother and son ran errands and went shopping regularly -- just last week for furnishings for Ann Overstreet's new home. They were supposed to go shopping today, and Overstreet was scheduled for jury duty in October, she said.
"He was wonderful," Ann Overstreet said. "He was jolly. More so than all my children. He had a big, loud laugh. He got tickled at the slightest thing."
Overstreet had two sisters and a brother in Roanoke and a brother in Delaware. Another brother died in 1995 of throat cancer.
His sister, Darlene Overstreet, said two characteristics sum up her brother's life.
"He was the life of the party and he was always the center of attention," she said. "And everyone liked it that way. He was like a magnet. He drew people in to him."
John Goodhart Sr. of Rocky Mount worked with Overstreet at Verizon. "He was just one of those quiet, funny guys. Pleasant," he said. "He was overweight. Had a pot bigger than mine. He was just a mild-mannered guy -- the last person you would ever think would die a violent death."
Despite all his friends, Overstreet wasn't in a relationship, his family said. He filled that gap by doting affection on his poodle, Friday. He took took the dog everywhere — even to the picket line during the Verizon strike.
"That was his joy, that little dog," Ann Overstreet said. "That was his company. He needed that."
For all the things he was, one thing Overstreet wasn't was political, his family said. They said they and friends knew he was gay, but co-workers may not have.
Longtime family friend Deb Smith said Overstreet never said anything about being afraid or that he suspected he would be someone's target.
Smith said Overstreet had been to Pride in the Park a couple of times, but she did not think he attended this year's gay pride event.
"He lived his life as normal as people can. It feels like he's going to get out of the car and walk up the steps," Darlene Overstreet said, turning away as tears filled her eyes. She put her arm on a porch column for support.
When she heard her brother had been shot, Darlene Overstreet went to the bar and waited. "So he wouldn't be alone, lying on the floor," she said.
She recalled advice she had given Danny Overstreet in the past. "Never leave your back to the door," she implored. "People are crazy. They've lost their minds."
Along with Overstreet, six others suffered wounds -- four women and two men. As of Saturday evening, one victim remained in critical condition and one had been released. The others fell in between.
Joel I. Tucker, 40, of Bonsall Lane in Southeast Roanoke County, was shot in the lower back. He was the only victim who agreed to be interviewed.
Tucker said doctors had decided to leave the bullet in his back because surgery would be too damaging to the soft tissue surrounding the bullet, lodged about an inch from his spine.
"I was one of the least hurt of anyone," he said.
Tucker had his back to the door when he said he heard a sound like firecrackers.
"I jumped up and the guy shot me," he said. "If I was sitting I think he would have shot me in the head.
"It's pretty scary. I never saw him. I jumped up and he clipped me in the belt line."
Tucker said the wound burned like a bee sting.
"Who would have thought something like that would happen," he said. "We were out on the town for the night, shooting pool. We thought that would be the end of it."
Staff writers Mike Hudson and Kimberly O'Brien contributed to this report.
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