Births of quintuplets bless and humble Las Vegas family

Daddy Deon Derrico at press conference

By Jackie Valley
Las Vegas Sun

The Derrico family, of North Las Vegas, welcomed quintuplets last fall. Evonne Derrico, 33, gave birth to three girls and two boys at Banner Desert Medical Center in Mesa, Ariz. “We are all doing great,” the proud father said. “Excited is an understatement.”

However, Deon Derrico, the quintuplets’ father and husband of the babies’ mother, Evonne Derrico, has a lot of work to do starting now.
“We have a vehicle for the family right now, but we don't have a vehicle for the five others,” said Deon Derrico, who works as a field property manager. “There’s just so much to figure out.”


The Derricos are from Las Vegas but temporarily relocated to Arizona while awaiting the birth of their quintuplets. After Evonne Derrico’s pregnancy of 32 weeks and two days, Dr. John Elliott, a perinatologist and multiple-birth specialist, delivered the babies. Their birth order:

• Deniko, a boy, born at 11:17 a.m.
• Dariz, a boy, born at 11:18 a.m.
• Deonee, a girl, born at 11:19 a.m.
• Daician, a girl, born at 11:20 a.m.
• Daiten, a girl, born at 11:21 a.m.

The quints — who ranged in weight from 1 pound, 14 ounces to 2 pounds, 15 ounces — are being cared for in the neonatal intensive care unit at Cardon Children’s Medical Center.

Evonne Derrico didn't know the babies’ genders prior to birth, so she announced “boy” or “girl” as doctors presented the babies to her in the delivery room, hospital officials said.
Deon Derrico said he and his wife conceived the quintuplets naturally — without any fertility drugs. However, multiples run in his family, Deon Derrico said. The couple already has year-old twin boys, Dallas and Denver, in addition to a 7-year-old daughter, Darian, and 3-year-old son, Derrick.

At first, in March, doctors informed the Derricos they were expecting quadruplets, but during a follow-up appointment two days later, they realized there was a fifth baby.
Words cannot begin to describe the couple’s emotions upon hearing that news, Deon Derrico said. “This has humbled me,” he said. “I feel very honored that God chose us.”

As Deon Derrico begins his search for a larger vehicle to accommodate 11, he knows this: He and his wife won’t be turning down any offers to help from family and friends.

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