Mother says Santa Rosa shooting victim was turning life around

Hours before Reggie Burt was gunned down outside his apartment in east Santa Rosa, he was repairing a car so that he could drive to the church where a pastor had helped reignite his faith in God, his mother said.

The 27-year-old Santa Rosa man had a new car, new apartment and faith. And in the year since he was released from prison, Burt had renewed his mother’s belief that her son would wield his infectious laugh and impeccable style to be a good father and businessman, his mother, Tracy Burt of Santa Rosa, said.

“He paid his debt to society in full - he was working on changing his life,” Burt said. “That’s what is so hard about it; that’s the hard thing about it.”

Reggie Burt’s roommate told his mother that the night he was shot, Burt said he was going out to smoke and stepped out of the third-floor apartment, but would not return, she said.

While many people at the Townview Avenue condominium complex where Burt lived heard the gunfire at about 7:45 p.m. Tuesday, no one who has come forward so far saw anything that might help police identify a shooter, Santa Rosa Police Sgt. Josh Ludtke said.

“We don’t have a suspect; we don’t have good witnesses,” Ludtke said. “We’re still trying to delve into his life, his habits, talk to his friends and associates.”

On Friday, detectives were still searching for evidence or witnesses that might lead them to a suspect. An autopsy was scheduled for Monday.

Born Reginal Dewayne Burt and known as Reggie, Burt grew up in Santa Rosa and Rohnert Park, playing football at Rancho Cotate High School before earning his GED at a continuation high school, his mother said.

Burt had four siblings - older sister Lola Burt of Las Vegas, older brother Richard Jr. and younger brothers Ronald and Raymond. He grew up listening to the impassioned sermons of the Rev. James Coffee at Community Baptist Church.

Burt leaves behind his ?twin 5-year-old daughters, Leifarrah and Leinaji Aguilar, and his 4-year-old son Jacquez King Aguilar, who live with their mother and Tracy Burt in Santa Rosa.

Tracy Burt said that she was overwhelmed by his friends and members of their family, who began arriving from all corners of the state to support her family, with others scheduled to arrive this weekend from the East Coast.

“He was very well-loved. ?His friends I hadn’t seen in years, they all told their bosses ?they needed the day off. I had about 50 kids in my yard, and that wasn’t including the family that showed up,” Tracy Burt said Friday.

Reggie Burt’s series of run-ins with the law included drug-related and driver’s license violations. In 2014, he was sentenced to ?40 months in prison for charges including threatening another person with great bodily injury or death, possession of a controlled substance and illegal possession of ammunition. He was released on Dec. 15, 2014, because of good conduct.

When Burt was 16, he was defended by current Sonoma County District Attorney Jill Ravit ch, according to his mother. Tracy Burt said that Ravitch helped prove Burt was acting in ?self defense and the charges were dropped. Tracy Burt said that on Thursday she went ?to the courthouse to meet Ravitch again, so many years later, in order to advocate for a thorough investigation into her son’s killing.

“Reginal was a victim, I wanted to know answers,” Burt said.

Anyone with information about the case can call the Violent Crimes Investigation Team at 543-3590.

You can reach Staff Writer Julie Johnson at 521-5220 or julie.johnson@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @jjpressdem.