The Boston Globe tells the story of the life and death of Johnny Davis, whose young life was lost to crime and gangs. The paper says his mother, Shondell Davis, tried to save her “lost boy.” She ultimately failed, and he was killed April 24 in Roxbury.
In the weeks before he was shot, his mother called Boston police, the Department of Youth Services, and hospitals, asking them to commit her son to their psychiatric wards. She called counselors Johnny had worked with, anyone who might help her keep her son safe. Her efforts failed. All too often, the Globe said, grieving relatives of murdered young men project an image of disbelief, unable or unwilling to admit they saw it coming or that they had failed to help. But Shondell Davis's impassioned but futile efforts to save her son sent perhaps an even more troubling message: Sometimes doing everything you can to save your child simply isn't enough.