By Vanesa Brashier, editor@bluebonnetnews.com
The family of D’Angelo Jermal Godfrey, killed in a head-on collision Sunday night in Liberty, say the 22-year-old Beaumont man was always willing to go out of his way to help a friend.
“In fact, the night he was killed, he was bringing food to a friend. She said she wanted crawfish, so he was taking her some. Even though he had just worked a 12-hour shift, he wanted to help a friend,” said his aunt, Christy Antoine of Baytown. “D’Angelo was a giver with a heart of gold.”
His family suspects that fatigue might have been a factor in the accident. They believe he fell asleep behind the wheel and veered into oncoming traffic.
“D would be heartbroken to know he injured those people. He would be so heartbroken,” Antoine said.
Godfrey was one of four children born to Terry Gants, his biological mother. After Gants died from breast cancer 10 years ago, her children were sent to live with a cousin, April Grogan, and her husband, Mack. The Grogans adopted the four siblings even though they had two daughters of their own.
“My sister and her husband took them in and have had them since. D considered them his parents and I considered him my nephew,” Antoine said. “He was close to all of them but he had a special connection with his sister, Keara. They were close in age and called themselves twins. They did everything together. If she went out, he would go with her to watch over her. He was a protective big brother.”
Until five years ago, the family lived in Dayton and Godfrey played for the Broncos football team. After the family moved to Beaumont, he played football at Westbrook High School.
“He had friends everywhere. I remember during football season, he and his friends were always going to see college football games,” she said. “He just loved football.”
Besides his family and football, his other loves were his dog, listening to country music and fishing, even though he was a terrible fisherman, his aunt said.
“He never caught anything but loved going to fish,” she said.
Godfrey also was known for helping children who did not have their fathers in their lives, buying bikes and presents for them so they didn’t go without Christmas.
Though he lacked a formal college education, his aunt says he had proven himself through hard work and on-the-job training and was moving up in the petrochemical industry.
“Everything he did in life was to make sure it would make his mama proud. Everyone will say he was kindhearted and loving, but he was such a hard worker, too. He would get off work, come home and change and then mow the grass,” Antoine said. “He would be the first to step up to help someone carry their groceries. He just had a work initiative, and if he wasn’t working on Sundays, he was at church.”
He is survived by his parents, April and Mack Grogan of Beaumont, and siblings, Travion Gants, Kamill Gants, Brandon Carter, Keara Grogan and Maddison Grogan, and numerous other relatives.
D’Angelo Godfrey (pictured with his adopted mother, April Grogan, loved spending time with his parents, siblings and extended family. 
D’Angelo Godfrey and his sister, Keara Grogan, were close in age and shared a special bond. He had a tattoo that read: “My Sister’s Protector.”
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