BACK. IN 2015. AKIL DRAKE’S DEATH DIFFICULT FOR HIS FAMILY AND FORMER COLLEAGUES TO WRAP THEIR MINDS AROUND TONIGHT. HIS SISTER TELLING ME HE WAS A GENTLE AND KIND SOUL. AKIL DRAKE KILLED IN AN EXPLOSION ON TUESDAY INSIDE THE CHASE BANK IN DOWNTOWN YOUNGSTOWN AT JUST 27 YEARS OLD. HIS SISTER TRICIA PRITCHARD, REMEMBERING HIM AS A LOVING BROTHER, SON AND GRANDSON. SHE SAID, QUOTE, HE LOVED HIS FAMILY SO MUCH AND HIS EXTENDED FAMILY IN YOUNGSTOWN AND WE CAN’T FORGET HIS PITTSBURGH STEELERS. AKIL JUST RECEIVED AN AMAZING PROMOTION WITH CHASE AND WAS SO PROUD OF HIS ACCOMPLISHMENTS. HE WAS LOOKING TO GROW IN HIS CAREER. WE ARE SO BROKEN BY THIS LOSS. MARC PETITO WORKED WITH HIM SEVERAL YEARS BACK WHEN DRAKE WAS A STUDENT AT YOUNGSTOWN STATE, EAGER TO LEARN FROM HIM ON THE SIDELINES. HE WAS A GOOD, GOOD MAN, YOU KNOW, HELPFUL WITH EVERYBODY. THIS IS FOOTAGE SHOT BY DRAKE WHILE WORKING TO FILM FOOTBALL PRACTICES AND GAMES FOR ISU’S COACHING STAFF. DRAKE’S DEATH COMING AS A SHOCK TO PRIETO’S DEPARTMENT. IT HIT THEM PRETTY HARD, TOO. WHEN WE TALKED YESTERDAY. UM, SO JUST EVERYONE REALLY LIKED HIM. YOU KNOW, I LIKE BEING AROUND FOOTBALL. HE SHARED THIS PHOTO OF DRAKE AT HIS COLLEGE GRADUATION WEARING THE CHAMPIONSHIP RING. THE VIDEO DEPARTMENT ALL RECEIVED WHEN THE FOOTBALL TEAM PLACED RUNNER UP TO THE FCS NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP. HE WAS A KID THAT WAS VERY, YOU KNOW, KIND OF MAKING HIS OWN WAY IN LIFE, YOU KNOW, VERY HARD WORKER, VERY RELIABLE. UH, SO, YOU KNOW, SOMEONE I REALLY COUNTED ON, HE WAS VERY, YOU KNOW, INTEGRAL PART OF THAT VIDEO STAFF THAT YEAR, THINKING NOT ONLY OF DRAKE, BUT THE OTHER SEVEN PEOPLE HURT, ONE OF WHOM, AS OF WEDNESDAY, REMAINED ON A VENTILATOR IN INTENSIVE CARE. I JUST I JUST FEEL HORRIBLE FOR WHAT HAPPENED FOR HIM. YOU KNOW, I FEEL BAD FOR THE SEVEN OTHER PEOPLE. YOU KNOW, THERE’S ANOTHER PERSON THAT WAS, UH, SEVERELY INJURED ON THIS, UM, WAS CLINGING TO LIFE AS WELL. THE NTSB SAYS A CUT IN A PIPELINE IS AT THE CENTER OF THEIR INVESTIGATION, AND THEIR CREWS WILL BE ON SCENE FOR ABOUT
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'We are so broken with this loss': Family, former colleagues speak about Akil Drake
Penn Hills graduate dies in Youngstown, Ohio explosion
Family and former colleagues of Akil Drake, the victim in Tuesday’s deadly explosion in downtown Youngstown, Ohio, spoke to Pittsburgh’s Action News 4 about Drake’s tragic loss of life.Akil Drake remembered: Watch the report in the video aboveDrake was a 2015 graduate of the Penn Hills School District. His sister, Traesha Pritchard, described her brother as a kind, gentle soul. She said he will be remembered as a loving brother, son and grandson.“He loved his family so much, and his extended family in Youngstown, and we can’t forget his Pittsburgh Steelers. Akil just received an amazing promotion with Chase and was so proud of his accomplishments. He was looking to grow in his career. We are so broken with this loss,” Pritchard said.Mark Preto, video coordinator for Youngstown State football, worked with Drake several years ago when Drake was a student at the university eager to learn from him on the sidelines.“He was a good, good man, you know, helpful with everybody,” Preto said.Preto shared footage shot by Drake while working alongside Preto on the video team for Youngstown State’s coaching staff to film football practices and games.“It hit them pretty hard, too. And we talked yesterday. So it just everyone really liked them, you know, like being around football."Preto also shared a photo of Drake at his college graduation, wearing the championship ring the video department also received when the football team placed runner-up in the FCS national championship.“He was a kid that was very, you know, kind of making his own way in life, you know, very hard worker, very reliable. So, you know, someone I really counted on, he was a very integral part of that video staff that year,” Preto said.Preto said he is thinking not only of Drake but the other seven people hurt, one of whom, as of Wednesday, remained on a ventilator in intensive care.“I just feel horrible for what happened to him. You know, I feel bad for some other people. He was another person that was severely injured on this, was clinging to life as well,” Preto said.In addition to the investigation by the state fire marshal’s office, the NTSB is launching a pipeline and hazardous materials investigation at the site of the explosion. The NTSB said a cut in a gas line is at the center of the investigation.
PENN HILLS, Pa. —
Family and former colleagues of Akil Drake, the victim in Tuesday’s deadly explosion in downtown Youngstown, Ohio, spoke to Pittsburgh’s Action News 4 about Drake’s tragic loss of life.
Akil Drake remembered: Watch the report in the video above
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Drake was a 2015 graduate of the Penn Hills School District. His sister, Traesha Pritchard, described her brother as a kind, gentle soul. She said he will be remembered as a loving brother, son and grandson.
“He loved his family so much, and his extended family in Youngstown, and we can’t forget his Pittsburgh Steelers. Akil just received an amazing promotion with Chase and was so proud of his accomplishments. He was looking to grow in his career. We are so broken with this loss,” Pritchard said.
Mark Preto, video coordinator for Youngstown State football, worked with Drake several years ago when Drake was a student at the university eager to learn from him on the sidelines.
“He was a good, good man, you know, helpful with everybody,” Preto said.
Preto shared footage shot by Drake while working alongside Preto on the video team for Youngstown State’s coaching staff to film football practices and games.
“It hit them pretty hard, too. And we talked yesterday. So it just everyone really liked them, you know, like being around football."
Preto also shared a photo of Drake at his college graduation, wearing the championship ring the video department also received when the football team placed runner-up in the FCS national championship.
“He was a kid that was very, you know, kind of making his own way in life, you know, very hard worker, very reliable. So, you know, someone I really counted on, he was a very integral part of that video staff that year,” Preto said.
Preto said he is thinking not only of Drake but the other seven people hurt, one of whom, as of Wednesday, remained on a ventilator in intensive care.
“I just feel horrible for what happened to him. You know, I feel bad for some other people. He was another person that was severely injured on this, was clinging to life as well,” Preto said.
In addition to the investigation by the state fire marshal’s office, the NTSB is launching a pipeline and hazardous materials investigation at the site of the explosion. The NTSB said a cut in a gas line is at the center of the investigation.
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