Family, friends mourn shooting victim

Police said Anthony Davis, 22, was a drug dealer, but those who knew him describe Davis as a kind and loving friend and father. Police and news organizations have described Anthony Davis, the man killed in the shooting outside the Palestra Sunday, as a drug dealer who was deeply involved in a gang. But those who knew him best said he was actually a loving father and friend caught in a bad set of circumstances. "He was truly loved and will be truly missed," Davis' lifelong friend James DeShields said. "He was just at the wrong place at the wrong time." Davis, 22, lived in a third-floor apartment on the 1400 block of North 17th Street with his mother, Iona. He had three children, ages 3, 3 and 1, according to DeShields. Davis was pronounced dead at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania after he was shot twice in the chest shortly after the end of the Philadelphia Public League boys basketball championship game Sunday afternoon. Three others were wounded in the shootings. College senior John La Bombard, 21, was hit in the leg by a stray bullet while he worked in the Blauhaus; Philadelphia resident Latisa Feribee, 20, was shot in the arm while walking north on 33rd Street; and Jeffrey Noble, 19, was treated and released Sunday night for gunshot wounds to the back. Davis and Noble were driving north on 33rd Street between Chestnut and Walnut streets when Davis stopped their green Lexus and got out. He had a gun in his possession and fired at least one shot before being gunned down, police said. Feribee was an acquaintance of Davis and Noble, according to police. The circumstances that prompted the incident remain unclear. Craig Davis, Anthony's brother, insisted his brother was not a drug dealer. "My brother never sold any drugs in his life," Davis said. But Davis was sentenced to three years' probation for a drug conviction in November 1994, police officials said. Davis was also supposed to stand trial tomorrow for theft, receiving stolen property and unauthorized use of a motor vehicle as a result of an arrest last May, according to police. In addition, Davis was charged with carrying a firearm without a license in September. The District Attorney's office dropped the charges in December. Still, DeShields said Davis "was young and caught in a bad set of circumstances." "That doesn't mean he was a bad person," DeShields added. And despite reports to the contrary by various news organizations, DeShields insisted that Davis had never been in any gang . The Philadelphia Daily News reported yesterday that Davis belonged to the Stiles Street Gang, which had an ongoing fight with the 5th Street Gang of South Philadelphia. The fighting that led to Sunday's shooting started because of an argument over a girl, the Daily News reported. "It wasn't about any gang or any girl," Deshields said. "The incident was about one black hating another black for no reason." DeShields speculated that the people who gunned down Davis were from South Philadelphia and jealous of all his possessions. The people responsible for the attack "just didn't like [Davis] because of his status and all the stuff he had," DeShields said. Davis did not have a job and supported himself and his family through extensive gambling in Atlantic City, N.J., and his North Philadelphia neighborhood, according to DeShields and Craig Davis. "He gambled to get anything," Deshields said. "He was very skilled at gambling, so he got a lot of money." Deshields also said Davis was very generous with all the money he won. "He liked the nice things, but would give you anything. If he saw you down, he would help you," DeShields said. "He liked buying his mom and his babies things." Davis liked to be called Tupac because of his admiration for Tupac Shakur, the rapper who was killed in September 1996 as a result of a drive-by shooting. Davis' neighbors spray-painted their building and decorated their cars with messages like "RIP Tupac" and "We loved Tupac" in memory of Davis. Craig Davis said his brother only liked Tupac's lyrics and did not try to emulate Shakur's lifestyle of gangs and drugs. DeShields expressed similar sentiments. "[Davis] didn't do anything like Tupac. I like Tupac's music too, [but] that doesn't mean I want to be like him," he said. DeShields said he did not want all that was good about Davis to get lost in all the "lies about who he was." "Just coming out in the morning and seeing him there would make my day," DeShields said. "I've known him since we were little, and you don't find people better than him." Funeral services are being held Saturday at 9:30 a.m. at National Temple Baptist Church at 17th and Massey streets.

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