Remembering Ny’Ques

Ny’Ques Farlow-Davis and his father, Kyle Davis, in about 2017. Photo: Stefan Roots

When I started a community newspaper in 2006, I expected to receive articles from others about Chester City government, schools, churches, social organizations, businesses, and individuals to fill pages, leaving me to do what I really wanted: report on youth sports.

When I played youth sports in the 60s and 70s, the Delaware County Daily Times ran articles and box scores the day after our games. As soon as Dad laid down the paper, I grabbed it to find my name. Sometimes I even made the headlines. There’s no way to express the joy of being a kid and reading your name in the paper.  

Several years ago, I dipped my toe into reporting youth sports by covering Chester Panther youth football. I made videos and posted them to YouTube. I knew the kids would enjoy them. But I never imagined how often they would be watched. Five years later, these videos have gotten tens of thousands of views and are still racking up more. 

Back then, there was one 8-year-old on the Chester Panthers peewee team who stood out. It turned out he was the son of a guy I knew well. Every game this kid played, he was the highlight reel. As he grew up and moved into the upper divisions of the football program, he continued to dominate. He kept growing, and he kept getting better. 

I was looking forward to seeing him play this fall as a 13-year-old. That is, if there was a season, what with coronavirus cancelling everything she puts her filthy hands on. 

And then I got the text that this 13-year-old boy was shot in the head. He died the next day.

I haven’t been the same since. 

“He Could Have Been My Son”

President Obama said about Trayvon Martin, he could have been my son. That’s how I felt about Ny’Ques Farlow-Davis. As an athlete, he reminded me so much of myself: the way he dominated. My playing started to diminish at about 14 when I stopped growing and started losing interest in playing team sports. But Ny’Ques was still getting bigger and better. He seemed nowhere near his peak. 

I know Ny’Ques’ father Kyle pretty well. He advertised his New Orleans-style restaurant and his electrical business in my paper and has done electrical work for me and my parents. We even partied a little. For a while, he was closer to my father than I was, the two of them members of the same Masonic lodge.

Kyle attended every game and practice Ny’Ques had, the way my father had attended mine. He stood on the sidelines without interfering with the coaches, watching his son do amazing things on the field. He was there to give Ny’Ques a high-five when he came to the sidelines. 

The news reports said only that a boy — Ny’Ques — was chased through backyards and shot in the stomach and head. The reporting made it look like just another homicide, just angry black youth settling a score. 

But those of us who knew Ny’Ques knew different.

This was a good kid from a good family. He didn’t hang in the streets. He was a great student, friend, and athlete. When you saw him, you knew you were looking at someone special. You knew if he had continued down the path in front of him, he’d be one of the ones we’d be bragging about. 

Time for Leaders to Step Up

In the past couple months, Chester has seen two 15-year-olds gunned down while playing basketball in the street and a 7-year-old killed when he caught a stray bullet to the face. Now a popular and promising 13-year-old is hunted down for reasons unknown. 

Situations like the one Chester is facing present opportunities for leaders to show their best stuff. As the people of Chester look to their government for guidance, they continue to be disappointed with the silence and seeming lack of compassion, given the carnage going on all around us. Police seem only to come along after the damage is done. They fail miserably at solving these crimes while putting the blame back on community members. 

Will new leadership bubble up from the streets in the form of community activism or vigilante justice? Just how close is Chester to exploding in anger like Ferguson, Missouri in 2014? When will the “wrong” kid get murdered, sparking a level of street justice never before seen in Chester? City Hall, the police department, and the district attorney better put their heads together fast. This community can’t and won’t take this much longer. 

There are a lot of older, reformed violent offenders — people who have done their time in prison — living in Chester raising their families and trying to maintain a simple life. They don’t want to be the ones to go after these young shooters. But with the right call to action, and continued governmental inaction, it will happen — especially if it’s one of their own who falls victim to a senseless murder. 

I wish I knew the magic formula for stopping violent crime, community apathy, government avoidance, and the huge void of action from the churches, the NAACP, and other organizations. The sad part is how easy it will be for government to roll in the tanks if street justice has its way. 

Come on, y’all. No one wants it to get to that level. Please step up and serve the people who voted for you. We need to hear from you, now.

Read more from Stefan Roots at Chester Matters and Covid While Black.