Youngstown explosion victim remembered as driven, community oriented

No one ever accused Akil Drake of slacking off, from his days as a Penn Hills football player to his burgeoning career in banking.

Drake relied on a work ethic instilled by his mother to graduate from Youngstown State University with a bachelor’s degree in finance and start climbing the ranks at JPMorgan Chase.

The life Drake had built for himself in Youngstown, Ohio, was cut short May 28 when a natural gas explosion rocked the Chase Bank where he worked, killing him and injuring seven others. He was 27.

“It’s definitely super hard to talk about him in the past tense,” said his sister, Traesha Pritchard.

The two grew up together in Penn Hills. After graduating from the high school in 2015, Drake continued his education at Youngstown State and obtained his degree in 2019. He started at Chase in 2021, and, after about two years as an associate banker, earned a promotion to relationship banker.

Pritchard also has done well for herself, working as assistant director of marketing services for the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Drake always took her success as friendly competition.

“If he could one up me when it came to school or goals, he would try,” Pritchard said.

Beyond business, Drake found love and friendship out of state, Pritchard added. After seven years of dating, he had planned to marry Victoria Gonzalez.

“It’s a loss not just for here at home, but the community he built for himself in Ohio,” Pritchard said.

Even after nearly a decade out of state, Drake remained connected to his hometown — and not just as a diehard Steelers fan.

Lee Davis, a violence prevention program director for Braddock-based Greater Valley Community Services and mentor to Drake, described him as always looking to help his community.

“He was a sponge. And we talked about, of course, a lot of stuff in life,” Davis said. “Never in the streets, that sort of stuff, but he wanted to give back in the way I’m doing now.”

Davis said Drake was exploring how he, too, could guide at-risk youth toward personal and professional prosperity.

Football was another mainstay of Drake’s life.

In a statement released after his death, Penn Hills School District called Drake a “student athlete who excelled on the football field.”

Once Drake got to college, he stayed invested in the game as part of the Youngstown State football video staff. Mark Preto, who serves as coordinator for the crew, described Drake as a reliable, friendly worker with a contagious passion for football. Recording team practices or home games can be thankless work, he noted.

“When you’re asking someone to climb up a ladder that’s 75 feet and carry equipment up … other people would question that,” Preto said. “He did whatever he had to do to make things work.”

When Youngstown State made it to the NCAA football championship in 2016, each member of the video team received a commemorative ring. Drake wore it in his graduation photos.

What hurts most, those who knew Drake say, is that he won’t get to fulfill his potential as a professional and community servant.

“He was very loved and will be missed tremendously,” Pritchard said.

Pritchard has started a GoFundMe for those who wish to donate to the family. It had raised about $2,600 as of Wednesday afternoon.

Drake is survived by eight siblings: Traesha Pritchard, Taynnaza Drake, Ashanti Dolby, Yemara Tune, Noaih Drake, Gavin Drake, Darius Drake and Stephen Drake III; grandparents Stephen and Donna Drake; fiancée Victoria Gonzalez; and a host of other relatives and friends.

A viewing will be held from 4 to 8 p.m. Friday at Sixth Mount Zion Baptist Church in Pittsburgh’s Larimar neighborhood, 6556 Shetland St. A service will take place at 11 a.m. Saturday at the same location.