Friends, family remember Madelynn Troutt 2 years after she was killed

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WAVE) - A vigil for Madelynn Troutt was held at Cornerstone Community Church in Southwest Louisville.

Madelynn was 17 when she died in a crash on March 1, 2021. She was hit on Dixie Highway by a man driving a stolen pickup truck.

Friends and family formed a circle, many clad in yellow and sunflowers because that’s what Madelynn loved.

Some were fighting the wind to keep candles lit, and others turned on the flashlights on their phones.

“She was my miracle baby and I miss her so bad‚” Madelynn’s mother, Marcie Troutt, said to the crowd of dozens. “I’m just grateful that you’re here with us to celebrate her life and her legacy that will live on until we take our last breaths.”

Police said Madelynn was killed when a truck driven by Michael Dewitt crossed into her lane and hit her head on. They said Dewitt was on drugs and he stole the truck he was driving at gun point.

“I have found some kind of a little bit of peace in things, just as we’ve been getting, sad to say it, used to it. That’s she’s not with us,” Marcie said.

Madelynn was a cheerleader at Butler. She had just left practice when she died.

Two years later, she’s still being remembered by her coach and other cheerleaders.

“We all stood around in a circle and clapped for her as she landed her last (trick),” her coach Missy Pfister said. “And I know I mentioned at her funeral and it’s just one of the things that stood out to me is that her teammates were huddled around her in her final moments clapping and cheering for her.”

A lot happened in the second year after Madelynn’s death. A lawsuit her family filed against the Bail Project for bailing DeWitt out of jail was dismissed in October, and a bill that would prevent charitable bail organizations from posting bond for people whose bail exceeds $5,000 died in committee.

Marcie said they can’t speak much on the lawsuit, and they’re still working on the bill.

“If anything, we’re just hoping for positive change with things that are happening now that would’ve prevented something like this,” Marcie said.

Dewitt’s trial date is set for May 9. It’s a day that Marcie said makes her anxious and nervous.

“Just feeling like I’m getting ready to have to live this all over again,” Marcie said. “We wake up everyday and have to relive it because it’s not behind us yet. I think what’s supposed to happen will happen.”

Marcie said if the trial goes the way that she hopes, she’ll finally have some closure and peace in her heart. She said then Madelynn would finally be able to rest in peace.

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