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68 Blocks: Life, death, hope: Part 1 of 5

Dreams cut short, dreams reborn

It’s a neighborhood known for trouble, but Bowdoin-Geneva is much more than that. A Globe team spent months there, listening and asking why violence persists where love and loyalty also run so strong.

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The Davis family did everything together. They took vacations. They dined together. They went to church as a family. That changed the day their son and baby brother, Nicholas Fomby-Davis, was fatally shot. That was the day everything changed. This summer, two years after his death, Nate and Trina Davis and their two girls, Trinecia and Natalie, tried to find closure and put the pieces back in their lives – without Nicholas.

  • Four days after the trial, Nathaniel Davis Jr. sits on his porch overlooking his beloved Norton Street in Dorchester. A day before, the Supreme Court ruled that it was unconsitutional for juveniles to be given life sentences. The ruling could affect his son's killer Joshua Fernandes, who was 16 when he fired the fatal shots.
    Yoon S. Byun/Globe Staff
    Four days after the trial, Nathaniel Davis Jr. sat on his porch overlooking his beloved Norton Street in Dorchester. A day earlier, the Supreme Court had ruled that it was unconstitutional for juveniles to be given life sentences. The ruling could affect his son's killer, Joshua Fernandes, who was 16 when he fired the fatal shots.
  • Latrina Fomby-Davis sorts through paperwork at the health center in Braintree where she works as the front desk supervisor. Since her son Nicholas's death, work has been a refuge.
    Yoon S. Byun/Globe Staff
    Latrina Fomby-Davis sorted through paperwork at the health center in Braintree where she works as the front desk supervisor. Since her son Nicholas's death, work has been a refuge.
  • Nate Davis awakes around 5 one morning in August to make the long trip to Cape Cod to fish for porgies. He aborts the trip when his fishing mate decides to sleep in. On the way back home, he stops in front of a construction site on Quincy Street and says it could be a place for a recreational center for area kids.5.0.1124135738
    Yoon S. Byun/Globe Staff
    Nate Davis awoke around 5 one morning in August to make the long trip to Cape Cod to fish for porgies. He aborted the trip when his fishing mate decided to sleep in. On the way back home, he stopped in front of a construction site on Quincy Street and said it could be a place for a recreational center for area kids.
  • Nate Davis sits in the play room where his son, Nicholas, used to practice playing drums. He listens to favorite tunes from an LP called "Save the Children."
    Yoon S. Byun/Globe Staff
    Nate Davis sat in the play room where his son, Nicholas, used to practice playing drums. He listened to some favorite tunes from an LP called "Save the Children."
  • A school official escorts Natalie Davis to her seat at her graduation ceremony. The Urban Science Academy event was held in Faneuil Hall on June 6.
    Yoon S. Byun/Globe Staff
    A school official escorted Natalie Davis to a seat at her graduation ceremony. The Urban Science Academy event was held in Faneuil Hall on June 6.
  • Trinecia Fomby-Davis wears a tattoo of a PlayStation controller in memory of her baby brother Nicholas. It has his date of birth and death.
    Yoon S. Byun/Globe Staff
    Trinecia Fomby-Davis wears a tattoo of a PlayStation controller in memory of her baby brother, Nicholas. It has his dates of birth and death.
  • Nate and Trina Davis share a light moment after a cookout at Boston police headquarters for families of homicide victims in late August.
    Nate and Trina Davis shared a light moment after a cookout at Boston police headquarters for families of homicide victims in late August.
  • Nate Davis proudly scans his certificate after graduating from a basic computer training program in late May at United South End Settlements, a community organization.
    Suzanne Kreiter/Globe staff
    Nate Davis proudly scanned his certificate after graduating from a basic computer training program in late May at United South End Settlements, a community organization.
  • Nate Davis encourages his neighbors, including Isaiah Miranda, 2, and Jaylanny Fernandes, 3, to have a dance contest at a cookout in a common area near his yard in early August.The block party is organized by his neighbor.
    Yoon S. Byun/Globe Staff
    Nate Davis encouraged his neighbors, including Isaiah Miranda, 2, and Jaylanny Fernandes, 3, to have a dance contest at a cookout in a common area near his yard in early August. The block party was organized by his neighbor.
  • A poster collage of Nicholas Fomby-Davis hangs in his old music room at his family's Norton Street home. Nicholas enjoyed playing drums and his PlayStation.
    Yoon S. Byun/Globe Staff
    A poster collage of Nicholas Fomby-Davis hangs in his old music room at his family's Norton Street home. Nicholas enjoyed playing drums and his PlayStation.
  • Nate Davis arrives early in court on June 21 -- the birthday of his twins Natalie and Little Nate -- to wait for the verdict in the murder trial of two young men accused of killing his son. Both accused killers lived in Bowdoin-Geneva at the time of the murder.
    Yoon S. Byun/Globe Staff
    Nate Davis arrived early in court on June 21 -- the birthday of his twins, Natalie and Little Nate -- to wait for the verdict in the murder trial of two young men accused of killing his son. Both accused killers lived in Bowdoin-Geneva at the time of the murder.
  • Latrina Fomby Davis testified somberly on the first day of testimony during the trial. She describes her frantic and terrifying moments after learning that her son had been shot and racing behind the ambulance to the hospital.
    Latrina Fomby Davis testified somberly on the first day of the trial. She described her frantic and terrifying moments after learning that her son had been shot and racing behind the ambulance to the hospital.
  • Officer Anthony Williams, who had witnessed the killing of Nicholas Fomby-Davis points to a screen showing images from a surveillance video during the trial in Suffolk Superior Court. Prosecutor Pat Haggan, left, tells jurors to focus on what happened that day May 30, 2010 and not why it happened.The reason, he says, will not make sense.
    The Boston Globe
    Officer Anthony Williams, who had witnessed the killing of Nicholas Fomby-Davis, pointed to a screen showing images from a surveillance video during the trial in Suffolk Superior Court. Prosecutor Pat Haggan, left, told jurors to focus on what happened that day, May 30, 2010, and not why it happened. The reason, he said, would not make sense.
  • In his victim impact statement in court in late June, Nate Davis tells his son's killers that he has to pass by the murder site -- close to his family home -- every day. He says that they had only one intention when they picked up that gun -- and that was to kill, he shouts.
    Bill Greene/globe staff
    In his victim impact statement in court in late June, Nate Davis told his son's killers that he has to pass by the murder site -- close to his family home -- every day. He said that they had only one intention when they picked up that gun -- and that was to kill, he shouted.
  • Nate Davis puts a set a solar charged lights at gravesite of his son on Aug. 20, in an effort to protect it from vandals who had threatened to desecrate it.
    Nate Davis put a set of solar-charged lights at his son’s gravesite on Aug. 20 in an effort to protect it from vandals who had threatened to desecrate it.
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