Syracuse woman killed in fiery crash identified; Remembered as a social butterfly who loved people

Syracuse, N.Y. — Deana D. Stevens family said she was a cautious and attentive driver, and always made sure she stayed focused on the road.
Her first cousin Celeste Akweta Hinds remembers her reaction when she tried to show her photos of her sister’s repast.
”Cuz, I know how you take pictures and I so much appreciate it but let me stay focused,” Hinds remembers Stevens saying.
Her careful driving is why her family was shocked when she died in a single-vehicle crash on a city street near Sunnycrest Park in Syracuse.
Stevens, 60, died when her vehicle crashed into a tree on Shotwell Park in Syracuse on Nov. 2, her family confirmed. The vehicle caught fire and Stevens died in the crash.
Stevens’s family took time to talk with Syracuse.com | The Post-Standard about Deena who worked for years as a bartender. She also was a substitute teacher and later a volunteer foster grandparent in the Syracuse school district.
Stevens was the youngest of 10 children — seven girls and three boys — her niece Tralishia Newton said.
Because Stevens was the baby, she was spoiled and a little bratty, Newton joked.
Every month, Stevens would go to her older brother Randloph Steven’s house and he would give her money, just so she had a little something extra, Newton said. And Newton’s mom Lessie Stevens would often buy her food and clothes, and offer her rides to see her sons.
Deana Stevens lived in a two-family home on Cheney Street in Syracuse with the family’s oldest sibling, Joann Stevens, where Joann helped Deana care for her two young sons. The sisters lived there together for 20 years, Newton said.
“They would do anything they could for her, all of them,” Newton said.
Although Deana Stevens was the youngest, she also helped care for her family as well, said her brother Randloph Stevens.
She would pick him up every other day and take him to run errands. She came over every Thanksgiving to help Newton prep the meal for the family dinner, Newton said.
She was also the peacemaker and made sure the family stuck together, Hinds said, even if the family had disagreements.
“She was always focused on that and she used to always quote Rodney King, ‘Can’t we just get along, y‘all.’”
Deana Stevens was also a loving grandmother of four grandchildren, her siblings said. She often drove them to and from work, took them to have picnics and never told them no, they said.
It’s that caring nature that led her to volunteer as a foster grandparent for AmeriCorps Seniors Foster Grandparent Program in the Syracuse City School District for several years, her family said.
She was also a substitute teacher in the school district from 1998 to 2000, said Amanda Hull, the Syracuse school district’s director of media.
Deana Stevens was also a bartender for 20 years. Her family said she bartended at B & B Lounge, Charwall’s and other bars that have since closed in the Syracuse area.
Her family said she was a social butterfly. Newton said she was down to earth, friendly and nice, and loved people. So much so that she could strike up a conversation with anyone, even strangers.
“I would say, ‘Deana, you don’t know those people,’ and she’d say ‘No, but they’re nice people,‘ and she’d just be to talking,” Newton joked.
She was funny, loved to crack jokes and was popular, Hinds said.
She knew any R&B song, even songs that came out before she did, her sister Paula Adams said. She enjoyed life, they all said.
It’s the love of life that kept her going despite her health issues, her family said.
Deana Stevens had a heart attack nine years ago, Newton said. She died on the table four times, but doctors were able to bring her back, she said. She received a pacemaker following that.
Her family said they believe she had a medical emergency, such as a heart attack, when her vehicle crashed.
The family was told by bystanders who witnessed the crash that they tried to help her out of the car, but that it quickly caught fire.
Lessie Stevens said police confirmed to the family that the person in the car who died was Deana Stevens. Police declined at this time to confirm the driver was her.
Her family said police are still investigating how the SUV crashed. It’s hard for them to imagine she died in a fiery crash, her family said.
“We’re going to get through this, and we’re not going to focus on how she died, we’re going to focus on how she lived and how she was always there for people,” Hinds said.
Funeral service will be at noon Saturday at Well Hope Christian Church at 164 South Ave.
Staff writer Darian Stevenson covers breaking news, crime and public safety. Have a tip, a story idea, a question or a comment? You can reach her at [email protected]