Community mourns University High student lost to gun violence

FERNDALE — Family, friends and a community are mourning after a student from University High School was killed in a shooting at the Michigan State Fair.

Darean Davis, of Detroit, was shot in the parking lot outside the fair in Novi Aug. 31. He was 14.

Affectionately known as “Dee Dee,” Davis was a sophomore at University High School in Ferndale Public Schools.

“Our hearts go out to Darean’s family, friends, and classmates, and we extend our deepest condolences and support during this incredibly difficult time,” Superintendent Camille Hibbler said in a prepared statement. “In response to this tragedy, we have mobilized a crisis team that includes mental health professionals, counselors, and support staff to provide immediate and ongoing assistance to students, parents, and staff. We are committed to ensuring that everyone affected has access to the necessary support and resources.”

Outside of school, Davis was a member of the Detroit City Lions Youth Club, where he played numerous positions on its football team.

CEO and co-founder Devon Buskin remembered Davis as a “silly, funny kid” who always kept a smile on his face and kept the other kids laughing. He also noted how helpful Davis was and how willing he was to take a leadership role for the kids younger than himself.

“He was a kid’s kid,” Buskin said. “Just really loved a sport, wanted to have fun and just really wanted to grow and develop and be coached, but loved the family atmosphere, loved his family, and talked about his family quite a bit as well, too. We were just a bonus family for him, but his immediate family, he loved them quite a bit and just always talked about them. He was a family young man. Very respectful and just was a bright light.”

Buskin recalled the night he got the call that Davis had been shot. He said the news was devastating to hear, as it would be for any young person struck down in this manner.

He knew Davis wanted to pursue playing football in high school, college and beyond, but he also knew he was interested in physical therapy and kinesiology through guests they had at the club.

“To hear especially about him, a young man that I knew, knew had talent, I knew had goals, that wanted to achieve something greater, it was devastating to hear, especially through the act of senseless gun violence,” he said. “We just want justice for him. We want the people responsible to be brought to justice, and that’s what’s necessary.”

Buskin further advocated for communities, cities, youth organizations and everyone to work together against gun violence.

“This is starting to become a rerun. It’s just a different young man, a young lady, a different organization, a different community, a different city. We just need it to stop,” he said.

“This is a cry for help and making sure that we’re holding ourselves accountable to be the leaders that we stepped up to be in these roles for these young people and set the best examples that we can as coaches, as mentors, as leaders, as residents of these communities. It’s just time to take a stance and stop this,” he continued.

Buskin hopes that anyone with information on the shooting will speak to authorities to help bring who did it to justice.

“We lost an angel,” he said. “We lost a really bright light, unfortunately, due to gun violence. A life was ended very short by somebody that touched so many people in a positive way just by his presence, just by his willingness to want to interact with other young people in groups and things of that nature. But we lost a really, really great young man that I wish everybody would have the opportunity to know, because he impacted so many in a positive way to bring a smile to folks. That’s what we lost.”