DeWitt Township police officer dies of COVID-19, family and community remember him

DEWITT TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WILX) - The DeWitt Township police, which recently had to quarantine much of the department, lost an officer to COVID-19.

Township officials say Sergeant Bill Darnell died unexpectedly Wednesday night due to complications from COVID-19.

Andrew Dymczyk, DeWitt Charter Township Manager, issued the following statement:

His wife, Ellie Darnell, says he got sick 12 days ago and that it became critical very quickly.

The DeWitt Chief of Police says losing Sergeant Darnell is a huge loss to the community.

“Sergeant Darnell is what every police officer, good police officer should be. He was connected to the community. He took care of people. He did things in the department that nobody else wanted to do," he said. “He was definitely one of my right-hand men. Not only that but his years of experience. You can’t teach that. There’s things that he does that’s gonna be felt for a long time. There’s a lot of loss here. Huge.”

The family says they will be delaying a celebration of life until it is safe to congregate together.

The DeWitt police officers who were exposed to COVID-19 are in quarantine. The chief says they plan to have them back on duty next week.

The 52-year-old Sergeant Darnell leaves behind a wife and three children.

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