General

#Funeral held for 1-year-old shooting victim Davell Gardner

#Funeral held for 1-year-old shooting victim Davell Gardner

Little Davell Gardner was remembered for his infectious smile and the “sparkle in his eye” at his funeral Monday — two weeks after the bubbly 1-year-old was shot dead at a Brooklyn barbecue.

Mourners joined the boy’s parents, Felicia Gordon and Davell Gardner Sr., to pay their final respects at the Pleasant Grove Baptist Church on Fulton Street in Bedford-Stuyvesant, about a mile and a half from the park where the tot lost his life on July 12.

“It just hurts,” a tearful Davell Gardner Sr. said during the service. “My son is gone. I don’t have nobody. I don’t have somebody to call me daddy, daddy, daddy.”

“They took my family,” he said. “I love you junior.”

The boy’s tiny casket, blue and gray and decorated with characters from the Cocomelon cartoons, was flanked by two large white floral arrangements, one in the shape of a heart.

A teddy bear and stuffed Elmo toy sat on top.

“Jr. was a baby that smiled and showed his dimples with a sparkle in his eyes,” the family wrote in the funeral program. “He loved his sister Faith and thought he was the big brother, telling her to sit. My baby is in heaven and he’s the family guardian angel. He will never be forgotten.”

The Rev. Al Sharpton, who delivered the eulogy, called the boy’s death “a disgrace,” and decried the sure of gun violence on the streets.

“If nothing shakes this community, to see this young baby in a casket that doesn’t even need pallbearers,” Sharpton said. “His father could’ve walked him down by himself. This is a disgrace.”

“I don’t care who you are, what title you got, how much money you got,” he said. “If you can look at a baby and not stop this gun violence, you are not worth anything to anybody. The problem we got is too many people with titles, no functions.”

The toddler was shot near the Raymond Bush Playground in Bedford-Stuyvesant on July 12 when a shooter opened fire on a cookout. Davell was hit in the stomach and taken to Maimonides Medical Center, where he was initially expected to survive.

Davell Gardner Jr.
Davell Gardner Jr.Handout

He was pronounced dead hours later.

Three men, ages 27, 35, and 36, were wounded in the shooting but all suffered non-life-threatening injuries.

Three days later, police took Deshawn Austin into custody as a person of interest in the case. Austin, an alleged member of the Hoolie Blood gang, was accused of shooting a rival gang member on Nostrand Avenue in March but was also suspected in Davell’s fatal shooting.

However, police have not filed any charges in the boy’s death.

Among those in attendance at his funeral were state Attorney General Leticia James and city Councilman Robert Cornegy.

“There is a special place in hell for the individuals who did this,” James said. “I urge you to surrender yourself immediately.”

“There are individuals in this church who know whose responsible for this,” she said. “Black lives and the lives of babies must matter to us first and foremost.”

The Lawrence H. Woodward Funeral Home on Troy Street is handling the services.

If you want to read more News articles, you can visit our General category.

if you want to watch Movies or Tv Shows go to Dizi.BuradaBiliyorum.Com for forums sites go to Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com

Source

Related Articles

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Back to top button
Close

Please allow ads on our site

Please consider supporting us by disabling your ad blocker!