Funeral planned for athlete and Lowcountry native Lavel Davis Jr.

NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCBD) – A beloved athlete from the Lowcountry will be laid to rest on Wednesday.

Lavel Davis Jr., 20, was among three University of Virginia athletes who were shot and killed after returning from an off-campus field trip on the night of Sunday, November 13.

Family, friends, and members of the UVA football team will gather for Davis’s ‘Celebration of Life’ at Mt. Moriah Missionary Baptist Church on Wednesday morning. The interment will take place at Bethel AME Church in Ridgeville.

U.S. Congressman James Clyburn is expected to speak at the funeral.

The Ridgeville, South Carolina native played football at Woodland High School in Dorchester County. He was a wide receiver at the University of Virginia and was preparing to “fulfill his dreams of being drafted into the NFL,” according to his obituary.

Those who knew Davis said he meant a lot to the Ridgeville community and would always lend a helping hand whenever he could. “That’s just what he wanted to do – be community-oriented,” said Ridgeville Police Chief Quinton Joyner.

Peers described the football standout as a caring, inspirational person with a bright future.

“Everyone loved Lavel,” Selena Clark, a close friend of Davis, said. “He never had a bad bone in his body. I’m sure everybody here could say anything good about him and everything like that. Definitely one of the faces of Ridgeville; everybody knew him.”

Fellow athletes D’Sean Perry and Devin Chandler were also killed in that shooting.

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Author: Tim Renaud