A Birmingham high school junior shot to death when he was seemingly caught in a hail of gunfire is being remember as a loving, genuine, caring person.
“We still can’t believe it’s real,’’ said Lyiah Lawson, sister of slain George Washington Carver High School student Javarius “Deno” Reid, 17. “He was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
Reid, the third Birmingham City Schools student shot to death in the first month of 2022, was in a vehicle with friends on his way home when gunfire rang out in and around the 2900 block of 16th Street North, which is directly in front of ACIPCO.
Once on the scene, said Officer Truman Fitzgerald, police learned that a victim had arrived at UAB Hospital via private vehicle suffering from at least one gunshot wound. Reid was pronounced dead at the hospital.
Police and family said it appears Reid, who was in the back seat of the vehicle, was an innocent bystander caught in the crossfire.
“The car only had one bullet hole in it,’’ said Reid’s aunt, Dominique Spivey. “It’s heartbreaking for us to lose him.”
Officer Truman Fitzgerald said a large number of bullets were fired that night. Crime scene technicians marked at least 38 shell casings on the scene.
“We are deeply saddened by the death of Javarius Reid, a junior at George Washington Carver High School who was killed by gunfire on Friday night,’’ Birmingham City Schools Superintendent Dr. Mark Sullivan said Saturday. “Our thoughts and prayers are with Javarius’ family, as well as the students, faculty and staff at Carver High. Grief counselors will be on hand at the school on Monday.”
Also killed this month were De’Undray Nakil Haggard, 18, was found shot to death on the sidewalk of a public housing community on Birmingham’s west side on Jan. 12. Haggard, who moved to Birmingham from Selma, was a senior at A.H. Parker High School.
Haggard’s death came just days after Wenonah High School student Yasmine Wright, 16, was killed Jan. 8 when she was on her way home from work at the Birmingham Zoo and got caught in gunfire.
Those closest to Reid described him as the “money maker” in the family. “He wanted to do anything to make money,’’ said his 20-year-old sister, one of Reid’s six siblings.
“He loved cars, all types of cars,’’ Lawson said. “He liked being around his family. He wasn’t a street person.”
She said he was an AP student who made good grades. “He was just a genuine caring person,’’ Lawson said. “He never did anything to harm anybody.”
Reid, family said, always made everyone laugh.
“As a person, he was very outgoing, he was very silly,’’ Spivey said. “He played all the time.”
Reid loved football and played up until this year. He spent a lot of his time working on cars with his father and grandfather.
“His grandfather always taught him trades to fall back on in case sports didn’t work out,’’ Spivey said. “He was mainly focused on making money by working on cars. All the other boys thought they were too cute, but (Javarius) didn’t mind getting dirty.”
Spivey said Reid was looking forward to his senior year in high school and graduation. “He was excited about that,’’ she said.
Spivey praised her nephew’s friends who were able to keep their composure enough to get Reid to the hospital. “I don’t know what I would have done,’’ she said. “Those boys did a really good job under pressure by getting him to the hospital.”
Spivey said her family is stunned by Reid’s death. “It’s always been our mission to stay close to each other and not become a statistic of gun violence,’’ she said.
She said Reid was raised “old school” and even had a curfew.
The gun violence, she said, is out of control.
“We’re losing our babies,’’ Spivey said. “I don’t feel like we should be burying our children.”
The family is pleading that anyone with information come forward.
“We haven’t been able to go to sleep since this happened,’’ she said. “We are asking the community to give us justice, give us peace of mind.”
Spivey said she want her nephew to be remembered for his gift of always being able to make people laugh. “He turned everyone’s mood into something positive,’’ she said.
“This really was a good kid,’’ she said, “and we’ll never know his full potential because of senseless gun violence.”
A GoFundMe has been launched to help with his funeral expenses. Donations can be made here.
Anyone with information is asked to call Birmingham homicide detectives at 205-254-1764 or Crime Stoppers at 205-254-7777.