Local chef honors two children through free cookout, hundreds attend

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — A local chef honored his two children Sunday, offering a free cookout to the community to support to anyone also dealing with the loss of a child.

Chef Dolla Miller hosted his eighth annual memorial cookout and shared his family’s love for cooking with others.

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“God said if we feed the people, he’ll feed us,” Miller said. “My daughter used to feed the people. We had a restaurant; she used to give the food away. I didn’t know until after she died. Everybody told me.”

Miller started his annual cookout in honor of his 22-year-old daughter, Eddreka Miller, who died in 2016 following a car crash.

He wasn’t prepared for the pain of losing another child, but in 2023, he also lost his son to gun violence. According to police, 33-year-old Dequan Howse was shot and killed in a courtyard at Napier Place.

“When you lose one, it hurts, and it’s still hurting,” Miller said. “This is how I get my going: by feeding the people.”

Eddreka’s mother, Deborah Flint, said that her daughter’s kindness still lives on. That kindness is shown through the stories that their family hears each year at the gathering.

“Her dad had a restaurant. She started feeding families out of there, so we begin to meet these people as they come and tell us how good that she was to them,” Flint said. “This is what she would have wanted.”

Since Howse’s shooting death, some family members shared their growing concerns over area gun violence. They added that they hope their yearly event offers food and fellowship to anyone going through such a loss.

“The changes I’d like to see is (at) events like this, is that we can all get together with no violence,” Eddireka and Howse’s aunt Tammy Miller said. “We[are] all just are coming together as one to love on each other.”

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Flint told News 2 that he fears that gun crime will continue to get worse. Flint added that she thinks guns have become too easily accessible. She said that she hopes to offer support for anyone else dealing with the loss of a child.

“It’s not just about Dreeka’s loss, but here lately, we’ve done had plenty of loss that’s come over the city,” Flint said. “We just want to welcome everybody…to let you know that there’s love still out there and there’s people that still love and care.”

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