Six Warren fire victims laid to rest

HOWLAND

“Death is not an easy thing to accept. Death can come at any time, at any place. We want to know why, but can we really know? We have to leave it in the hands of God,” the Rev. Robert Stringer said Thursday afternoon during the funeral for six people who died a week ago in a Warren house fire.

“Sure, you’re suffering, but I want you to know that our loved ones are not in these boxes,” he said to the family members and friends of the victims as he stood in front of six caskets at Believer’s Christian Fellowship.

“We’re going to see every one of these loved ones again, because they’re with the Lord.”

Derek Dorsey, 30, his fiance, Audrea Johnson, 31, their two children, Derek Jr., 11, and Ariell, 9, and a cousin, Miracle Hugley, 9, were all members of Stringer’s congregation at New Freedom Missionary Baptist Church. Ja’Niece Hicks, who also died, was visiting from Columbus.

Believer’s Christian Fellowship, which seats 800, offered the family use of its sanctuary for the funeral, which drew about 1,000 people.

All six died early Thursday in a fire that destroyed the Derek Dorsey family’s home on Landsdowne Avenue Northwest.