Dozens gather at vigil for Dreyfoos alum killed by police on campus

WEST PALM BEACH — A creator who would drop anything to help run sound production for a theater performance.

A son who would buy strangers lunch if they seemed down on their luck.

A friend who saw himself as a phoenix who would one day rise from the ashes.

That's how family and friends describe Romen Phelps, a 33-year-old man whom police shot and killed May 13 in the Dreyfoos School of the Arts theater. Phelps crashed his van on campus shortly before in what those close to him have called a manic mental health episode.

Previous coverage: Van driver was fighting school officer at Dreyfoos when city police arrived, shot him dead

More: Dreyfoos School intruder in hospital the night before for mental problems, friends say

But those who cared for Phelps didn't want to talk about the way he died.

Dozens of his friends, classmates and family members held a vigil for him Saturday afternoon and evening across the from the Dreyfoos campus where he had been happiest, and where he was killed. The vigil was full of messages about mental health awareness and how to get help. Friends shared songs and poetry and family members told stories about Phelps. It was not a protest aimed at police.

"No one's really here to get upset or start a fight, but really to honor his legacy so that he's remembered, not as somebody who scared kids or stormed a campus, but somebody who was having a mental health crisis," Stephanie Cimino, a Dreyfoos graduate and classmate, told The Palm Beach Post.

Phelps' mother Robbin Jackman, who has worked in social services, and his stepfather Tony attended the vigil. They met with their son's classmates and friends, and they want the world to know that Phelps' manner of death obscures what he was really like

"He was such a happy person and he was so genuine," Jackman said. "There are so many people surrounding us, and if Romen we're looking down, he'd be very happy."

Jackman would not comment on whether her family will bring a lawsuit against the West Palm Beach Police Department.

Phelps was 'joyous,' volunteering in Dreyfoos theatre department

Phelps was born in Palm Beach Gardens and has an older brother and sister. He attended Bak Middle School of the Arts and graduated from Dreyfoos in 2007.

He was living in an apartment in Gardens with a roommate and working as a jack-of-all-trades handyman before he died.

But that wasn't what Phelps was truly passionate about.

The theater was his "safe place," Jackman said. He continued volunteering at Dreyfoos in the theater department long after he graduated. Phelps ran lighting, helped show directors and encouraged others who lived the arts.

Friends who attended the vigil said they were surprised no one on Dreyfoos' campus recognized Phelps when he was on the campus before being confronted by police. Jackman and Cimino said he spent dozens of hours at the school each month helping in the theater department.

"It seemed like he always had the keys to any room you wanted to get into. He always seemed like a professional, like 'Do you go here or do you work here?'" Cimino said.

Phelps was funny, kind, caring and loved the school that had been like a second home to him, alumni told The Palm Beach Post.

"He was just a dedicated artist," Jacquelyn Guzman, a classmate said. "Romen was just a joy to be around. He always had a big smile."

Guzman saw Phelps last on April 30 when the two saw Lil Wayne at SunFest in downtown West Palm Beach. "Every time I saw him it was just as joyous and we would sit down and have a beer together and talk about the past and how we missed the camaraderie we all had. Because we were like a family."

During his years at Dreyfoos, Phelps was liked and valued by staff and fellow theater students. Teachers nominated him for a Pathfinder scholarship award, writing in their nomination that he was a "leader" and a "shining star."

"He teaches us everyday with his attitude," Dreyfoos stagecraft instructor Ed Blanchette wrote at the time. Blanchette, who was a mentor to Phelps, died in 2021.

Phelps 'managed' mental health issues for years

Phelps was hospitalized the day before his death. Jackman said he had been dealing with mental health concerns for several years but that those issues were "managed."

Phelps had a history of "manic depressant bipolar," according to a petition for an injunction against domestic violence that Kimberly Dennisson filed against Phelps in August 2020.

Dennison wrote that Phelps was involuntarily committed to a hospital for mental illness three times and needed medication for mental health problems. She wasn't sure whether he was taking his medication.

The judge granted the injunction. Phelps was not allowed to have firearms.

On May 12, Phelps was with his friend Skyler Meany at Meany's house in Palm Beach Gardens when Phelps started acting in a way that Meany said made him feel unsafe.

“In retrospect, I realize he was not trying to hurt us, he was trying to get us to hurt him,” Meany told The Post last week. “He wanted to be in a jail cell or someplace where he wouldn’t be a danger to himself.”

Police arrived and Phelps went to the hospital, but the hospital did not admit him overnight, Meany said. Phelps later returned to Meany's home to collect his van and his wallet.

“He said they tried to slow him down at the hospital with medicines and they couldn’t,” Meany recalled.

Early on May 13, Phelps posted a series of videos to TikTok that showed him and friends hanging out at a bar on Clematis Street in downtown West Palm Beach. The videos showed snapshots from a photo booth, close-up videos of a person's tattoos on their arm, and Phelps singing outside.

Later that morning, Phelps sent an invitation to a play he was planning to stage to a Dreyfoos teacher he had stayed in touch with. He posted on social media about a musician he admired.

Upon learning about a van crashing the gates at the school, Meany said he and his girlfriend, Abeni Matthews, had a feeling it was Phelps. And Meany wasn’t surprised Phelps headed for the school theater.

“It was one of his favorite places on Earth. One of the places he felt most comfortable,” Meany said.

Meany has heard Phelps stopped in his stage tech mentor Ed Blanchette's former workshop on the way to the theater.

Katherine Kokal is a journalist covering northern Palm Beach County at The Palm Beach Post. You can reach her at kkokal@pbpost.com. Help support our work, subscribe today!

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Vigil held for Romen Phelps, Dreyfoos alum shot and killed on campus