Dantrell Davis
{{Short description|Murdered American child}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2021}}
{{Infobox person
|name=Dantrell Davis
|image= DantrellDavis.png
|image_caption=
|birth_name=
|birth_date= July 31, 1985
|birth_place= Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
|death_date= {{Death date and age|1992|10|13|1985|7|31}}
|death_place= Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
|death_cause= Shooting
|body_discovered=
|nationality=
|citizenship=
|resting_place=
|occupation=
|known_for= Homicide victim
}}
Dantrell Davis (July{{nbs}}31, 1985 – October{{nbs}}13, 1992) was an African-American boy from Chicago, Illinois, who was murdered in October{{nbs}}1992. Davis was walking to school with his mother in the Cabrini-Green housing projects when he was accidentally shot by Anthony Garrett, a member of a local street gang who intended to shoot a rival. Dantrell's death sparked an increased awareness of the extensive violence occurring in Chicago's inner-city projects, and led to the first street gang truce in Cabrini–Green, which lasted for three years. Garrett was convicted of first-degree murder for Davis' death, and received a 100-year sentence.
Murder
Shortly after 9:00{{nbsp}}a.m. on the morning of October{{nbs}}13, 1992, 7-year-old Dantrell Davis was walking with his mother Annette Freeman to Jenner Elementary School where he was a first grader, from his home at 502 W. Oak Street, a 19–story high-rise belonging to the Chicago Housing Authority in the Cabrini-Green housing project in Chicago's Near North Side. While walking to school, Davis was struck by a bullet fired by Anthony Garrett, who was perched in a 10th-floor apartment in the nearby 1157–59 N Cleveland Avenue high-rise building, and was pronounced dead at Children's Memorial Hospital. Garrett was arrested only hours after he shot Davis, and the following day signed a {{frac|5|1|2}}-page confession stating that he was aiming to kill rival gang members when he accidentally shot Davis as he walked past his target. Garrett was indicted on first degree murder charges on November{{nbs}}5, 1992, and sentenced to 100 years in prison on March{{nbs}}8, 1994.
Aftermath
The murder of Davis gained national attention, and brought an increasing awareness to the street violence that was rampant in Chicago's inner-city housing projects. The reputation of Cabrini-Green worsened further, which had already become synonymous with the problems associated with public housing in the United States. Davis' death was one of several events that contributed to Cabrini-Green's gradual demolition and redevelopment of Cabrini-Green beginning in the late 1990s.
On March{{nbs}}5, 1993, the section of N Cleveland Avenue between W{{nbs}}Oak Street and W{{nbs}}Hobbie Street, where Davis had been killed, was given the honorary name Dantrell Davis Way.{{cite news |last=Gottesman |first=Andrew |date=January 14, 1993 |title=Cabrini street named for Dantrell Davis |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/1993/01/14/cabrini-street-named-for-dantrell-davis/ |url-status=live |work=Chicago Tribune |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240602041337/https://www.chicagotribune.com/1993/01/14/cabrini-street-named-for-dantrell-davis/ |archive-date=June 2, 2024 |url-access=limited}}{{cite news |last=Schmich |first=Mary |author-link=Mary Schmich |date=October 15, 2008 |title=16 years later, killing of Dantrell Davis remembered |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/2008/10/15/16-years-later-killing-of-dantrell-davis-remembered/ |url-status=live |work=Chicago Tribune |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240602032646/https://www.chicagotribune.com/2008/10/15/16-years-later-killing-of-dantrell-davis-remembered/ |archive-date=June 2, 2024 |url-access=limited}} The honorary street sign still remains, although much of the Cabrini–Green housing project, including Davis' home and the building he was shot from, have since been demolished.{{cite web |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/tearing-down-cabrini-green-11-12-2002/ |title=Tearing Down Cabrini-Green |last=Kohn |first=David |date=December 11, 2002 |website= |series=60 Minutes II |publisher=CBS News |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190618152742/https://www.cbsnews.com/news/tearing-down-cabrini-green-11-12-2002/ |archive-date=June 18, 2019}} Derek Ault, a teacher at Jenner Elementary School, started the Dantrell Davis Peace Party.
See also
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{cite magazine |last=Blau |first=Robert |date=Winter 1998 |title=Editors' Question: Do We Fail Our Children? |url=https://niemanreports.org/articles/editors-question-do-we-fail-our-children/ |url-status=live |magazine=Nieman Reports |publisher=Nieman Foundation for Journalism |volume=52 |issue=4 |page=51 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230205104014/https://niemanreports.org/articles/editors-question-do-we-fail-our-children/ |archive-date=February 5, 2023}}
- {{cite news |last=Terry |first=Don |date=October 17, 1992 |title=Even a Grade School Is No Refuge From Gunfire |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1992/10/17/us/even-a-grade-school-is-no-refuge-from-gunfire.html |url-status=live |work=The New York Times |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231016164116/https://www.nytimes.com/1992/10/17/us/even-a-grade-school-is-no-refuge-from-gunfire.html |archive-date=October 16, 2023 |url-access=limited}}
- {{cite news |last=Dumke |first=Mick |date=October 12, 2012 |title=The shot that brought the projects down, part one of five |url=https://chicagoreader.com/blogs/the-shot-that-brought-the-projects-down-part-one-of-five/ |url-status=live |work=Chicago Reader |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240516104607/https://chicagoreader.com/blogs/the-shot-that-brought-the-projects-down-part-one-of-five/ |archive-date=May 16, 2024}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Davis, Dantrell}}
Category:1992 murders in the United States
Category:Child murder in Illinois
Category:People murdered in Chicago
Category:Deaths by firearm in Illinois
Category:Murdered African-American people
Category:Incidents of violence against boys
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