PORT ANGELES — The colors red and black accompanied by the sounds of sobbing filled a funeral chapel Thursday as at least 300 family members and friends gathered to bid farewell to 17-year-old Maceo Niehaus, who died last week of a suspected heroin overdose.
Teenagers and adults alike gathered for the service wearing Maceo’s favorite colors and shirts with his photo printed on him, filling the main Drennan-Ford Funeral Chapel and spilling out into the entry hall.
“If just one person can see what happened to Maceo and turn away [from drug use], then Maceo will not have died in vain,” said David Moffitt, a family friend and the recently retired pastor of First Christian Church in Port Angeles who officiated the service.
Teen remains jailed
David Zavodny, 18, is in the Clallam County jail in lieu of $250,000 bond for investigation of providing Maceo with the heroin that reportedly killed him.
Zavodny was charged last week with one count of maintaining premises for drug trafficking, though a homicide charge related to allegedly providing heroin to Maceo could come at a later date, according to the Clallam County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office.
Maceo was found dead May 14 at the Ennis Street home in which Zavodny lived.
Maceo had not been breathing for between 40 and 45 minutes when Zavodny called 9-1-1 at 1:48 p.m. that day, according to police reports.
Just out of rehab
Ricki Niehaus, Maceo’s grandmother, said Maceo had been home for 20 days from a four-month drug treatment and basic training program called Camp Outlook in the Eastern Washington town of Connell when he died and seemed to be fully intent on staying clean.
“I have to hope kids learn from it,” Ricki Niehaus said.
“I feel like he gave his life, like Jesus, so the other kids can learn from his mistake.”
Family and friends described Maceo as big-hearted, outgoing and competitive, always up for a BMX bike or four-wheel ATV race at a friend’s home-built dirt track.
“He knew he was going to be big,” Ricki Niehaus said, adding that Maceo had wanted to be a professional BMX rider.
Devin Richardson and Tre Singleton, both 18, were a cousin and good friend to Maceo, respectively, though both described him as a brother.
“I’m still kind of in denial about the whole thing,” Richardson said in an interview after the funeral Thursday.
“I love him; always will.”
Singleton, who had known Maceo since the second grade, said he heard about Maceo’s death last week after a call from Zavodny, whom Singleton said he did not know well.
Maceo and Singleton had been hanging out at a friend’s house between 3 a.m. and 4 a.m. May 14 when Maceo left for Zavodny’s house, Singleton said.
‘Weird’ message
Singleton said Maceo called later that morning with a message Singleton described as weird.
“Maceo called and said, ‘I love you all,’ like he knew he’d be gone,” Singleton said.
They were the last words Singleton would hear from Maceo’s mouth.
Singleton and Richardson said they hope Maceo’s death will be a wake-up call for friends or anyone his age who has fallen into hard drugs.
“Addiction can take your life at any given point,” Richardson said.
“To the people that haven’t learned from this, I pray for them every day.”
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Reporter Jeremy Schwartz can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5074, or at jschwartz@peninsuladailynews.com.
