Taylor Toynes had just tucked his son into bed on Aug. 29, 2024, when he was rushed back to For Oak Cliff to find tragedy had struck on its doorstep.

While sitting in his patrol car, parked in the center’s lot, Dallas police officer Darron Burks, 46, was fatally shot in a brazen attack that wounded two other officers and scarred southeast Oak Cliff.

For weeks, Toynes watched as the haven he founded to be a beacon of hope for the community became a makeshift memorial instead. Hundreds of people came and went — to light candles and tie balloons, to reminisce and reflect, to question God and to pray.

Almost immediately, Toynes recalled, his perspective shifted.

Let me shine a light, he thought. Let me teach you something.

“We know it’s the tragedy of death we’re dealing with,” Toynes said in an interview with The Dallas Morning News earlier this month. “But we also recognize that this is someone who needs to be honored for their spirit and their courage.”

And so came the vision for the nonprofit’s next project: The Darron Burks Memorial Park.

Their highest hopes, aligned

Long before Burks joined the Dallas Police Department, he was a student at Paul Quinn College, where he was a football player and president of the Omega Psi Phi fraternity. He was described as a “pure man” who never smoked, drank or cursed, and checked in on his friends daily.

For 17 years, Burks was a math teacher at Texans CAN Academies, a charter school that helps students recover credits to graduate.

In 2023, he brought the leadership skills he honed in the classroom to the police academy, where he helped corral the younger officers and keep them in line. They nicknamed him “Papa Burks.”

The challenge for For Oak Cliff wasn’t whether they wanted to memorialize Burks, but how they possibly could.

Toynes considered a traditional monument, but worried something so modest might allow Burks’ legacy to become synonymous with the tragedy that cut his life short.

Instead, his staff hopes to honor every part of Burks’ journey.

After drafting some ideas of their own, Amber Hartfield, For Oak Cliff’s director of operations, said her team met first with Burks’ mother, Cherie Jeffery, to get both her input and her blessing. They found her dreams for a permanent memorial aligned almost “word for word” with their own.

“She loved every bit of it, and she was really grateful that the community is coming together to do something like this for her son,” Hartfield said.

Ideally, the park, which will sit on For Oak Cliff’s property, will include an outdoor classroom, a playground and fitness equipment featuring educational quotes and words of encouragement, a garden with seating and a memorial plaque, and a mural symbolizing Burks’ faith, leadership and love for his community.

“To pull up and see people out there playing, sitting together, reflecting, whatever it is, I think that’s it,” Toynes said. “That is joy. That is living.”

Jeffery, according to Hartfield, was especially adamant about pursuing the garden, yearning for a space designed to bring families together, an ode to the bond she shared with her son.

“We really want to honor all of her wishes,” Hartfield said. “We want to do our best to make all of it come true.”

Park to be built in phases

Hartfield and Toynes said a partnership with Leadership Dallas has been instrumental in connecting them with organizations, fundraising campaigns and pro bono services that will help them see the park through.

”Officer Burks’ legacy will forever remain etched in the heart of the city he loved, and he will always be remembered as a true hero,” a Dallas police spokeswoman wrote in a statement sent to The News. “We are honored to see Officer Burks’ memory live on.”

They’re still in the early stages of crafting designs, but anticipate it could take anywhere from $275,000 to $500,000 to complete the project.

It’s too soon to grasp the timeline, but Hartfield said the park will be built in phases as the money is raised.

For Burks’ mother, they’ll start with the garden.

To donate or sponsor a portion of the park, the North Texas Giving Day fundraiser can be accessed here.

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