Terminal 10-year-old honored by local law enforcement

Nearly every Jefferson County law enforcement agency joined an outpouring of officer support reverberating around the state and nation for a 10-year-old Houstonian with terminal cancer – a boy who had one request when visited by the Make-A-Wish Foundation: to become a police officer.

Dozens of law enforcement officers from local police departments, constable precincts, school districts and more gathered in the Jefferson County Courthouse  on June 15 to swear in their newest deputy, Devarjaye “DJ” Daniel, a 10-year-old who found out he had terminal cancer in 2018. Doctors diagnosed DJ with metastatic anaplastic ependymoma brain and spine cancer – there is currently no cure for this type of cancer.

DJ, a Houston native with Beaumont roots, was 6 when his parents learned their little boy had a brain tumor and Stage 3 cancer. Although doctors consider his condition terminal, DJ has lived three-and-a-half years past previous expectations. According to dad Theotis Daniel, thanks to an experimental drug, and no shortage of personal courage, DJ has been able to see his wish manifest many times over – 543 by his dad’s count.

“He lives his life; he has a great time; he doesn’t resonate his pain on anyone else,” said Theotis Daniel. “Everywhere he goes he just lights up the room – even when his morale is low. He’ll hug everybody, he doesn’t care who you are, what you look like, what you did yesterday – everybody is always important (to him).”

Entities that honored DJ by swearing him into their ranks included the Port Arthur Independent School District Police Department, Port Arthur Police Department, Beaumont Police Department, Texas Department of Public Safety, Port Neches Police Department, United States Marshal Service, Jefferson County District Attorney’s Office, Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, Lamar University Police Department, Nederland Police Department, Lumberton Police Department, Constable Precinct 6, Constable Precinct 2, Constable Precinct 1 and Beaumont Independent School District Police Department.

“Devarjaye has a quest,” said Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office Captain Crystal Holmes. “He was diagnosed with brain cancer and has proven that he is a warrior through 11 brain surgeries. This is no ordinary young man.

“From an early age, he has dreamed of becoming a law enforcement officer. Most people are required to wait until they’re 21 or older to reach this goal, but not DJ. He is on his own time. He’s made it a mission to meet as many law enforcement personnel as he can, to express his interest and gratitude.”

Law enforcement inspiration

Hurricane Harvey displaced the Daniels in 2017, Theotis revealed, saying their shelter was being operated by dedicated officers who went above and beyond to care for his boys.

“During that trying time and under all that duress, the officers took the time to get three children out of the situation,” said Daniel. “They took my three boys upstairs and adopted them the whole time they were there. So, that small gesture really managed to embed in their hearts – especially Devarjaye. He wants to be a police officer, and that’s how it started.”

“He told Make-A-Wish that he didn’t want to go to Disneyland, so they asked him, ‘Well, do you wanna see someone famous?’ He said, ‘no.’ He said, ‘If you can’t help me become a police officer, I don’t want anything.’”

Center of a medical study

Daniel said his son never showed any signs of his cancer, telling The Examiner, “He was Stage 3, and we didn’t know. He never complained, he had bad cataracts and couldn’t see, but never told us anything; I never knew. He’s got permanent drainage in his brain.

“But he’s pressed on. One thing a lot of parents need to understand is they need to be honest. I always tell them that I’m not going to be around forever, so you need to learn everything I can teach you.”

Daniel reflected back to trying everything he could to save his son, as well.

“He had five months to live, and the next morning Baylor, Children’s and a pharmaceutical company said, ‘Well, we have this trial medicine we can’t get anyone else to try.’ So, I asked, ‘What’s the mortality rate?’” the dad detailed.

“We don’t know,” replied the doctors.

“If it gives me 10 minutes more, I’ll take it,” Theotis retorted.

“I signed all the paperwork, and, so far, he has helped save hundreds of thousands of kids across the world. So, he’s the actual study. He was the only child.”

In fact, DJ is referenced in a study published by the Journal of Clinical Oncology, writing, “A previously healthy 6-year-old boy presented with 2 weeks of abnormal gait, progressive headaches, vomiting, and somnolence, eventually culminating in generalized tonic-clonic seizure.

“Our case provides an example of the profound impact such testing can have for both diagnosis and effective treatment of children with high-risk pediatric cancers.”

A boy of many badges

After leaving Southeast Texas with more than a dozen new badges, DJ will be on the way to more deputizing ceremonies with the New Orleans Police Department, Mobile Police Department, Tallahassee Police Department and Miami Police Department. His dad further revealed that a police department in Belgium called requesting to swear DJ into their ranks, offering to arrange a flight for the young deputy.