ATLANTA — The father of one of two young teens killed in a southwest Atlanta shooting says his sons were going to visit a friend to celebrate his birthday when the shooting happened.
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Jakody Davis and Lamon Freeman, both 13, were shot to death early Tuesday morning at the West End Apartments in the Oakland Park neighborhood. An 11-year-old boy was also critically injured.
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Channel 2′s Michael Seiden spoke to Jakody’s father, Dontavious Davis, Sr., who said the 11-year-old who was injured is his son and Jakody’s younger brother, Dontavious “DJ” Davis. He said the gunshot broke every bone in DJ’s foot and he’s in the process of having multiple surgeries.
Davis said his sons went over to Freeman’s house to celebrate his 14th birthday. Freeman was killed 30 minutes later.
Jakody celebrated his 13th birthday on June 28.
“We are devastated to know that was his last birthday here on earth,” family members wrote on GoFundMe. “He was a kid who can light up any room, who can make a bad day turn into laughter. He loved playing football as a player of the Atlanta JR Falcon team. He loved his family, riding bikes, and dancing.”
Seiden also spoke to one of the homicide detectives on the case who made it very clear that the boys were innocent victims.
“All I can tell you is that these young kids they had absolutely no ties to gangs,” Det. Summer Brenton said. “They were doing nothing wrong. They were hanging out with each other right outside their apartments.”
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Right now, police are knocking on doors and reviewing surveillance videos from the neighborhood as they work to identify a shooter or shooters.
A vigil is planned to honor Jakody and Lamon on Wednesday night.
CrimeStoppers is offering a $50,000 reward or any information that helps lead to an arrest. Anyone with information can call 404-577-TIPS.
You can donate to the GoFundMe for the Davis family HERE. You can donate to the Freeman family HERE.
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