Devon attended Prospect Heights Middle School in Orange, VA for his junior high years. It was during these years that Devon's life began to go slightly down hill. At the time, he was grieving the loss of an aunt, who was like his best friend and second mother. "Whenever mom said no, Aunt Val always said yes." She died from a brain tumor, which hit Devon very, very hard. In 2006, while sitting in his 6th grade class, my mom called the school and told them that Devon needed to be released from class immediately. Devon made his way to the office where he found mom, balling her eyes out. No one was ever ready to hear the news that followed. Our older sister had been murdered the night before. These events were traumatic for Devon and changed his life forever. He was not good at opening up to people, and these events did not help the situation at all.

After high school was when Devon's struggle with addiction began. He attended Piedmont Virginia Community College for about a year while living at home. It was during this year that he was introduced to prescription pills. This is when Dev's struggle with addiction began. He tried them at a party with a few friends and as addiction does, it consumed his life. It caused him to lose focus in school and he began to lose relationships in his life. After dropping out of PVCC he began working with our oldest brother and dad while stilll living at home.

On May 8th, 2019, Devon lost his battle with addiction. He was 27 years old and was laid to rest beside his grandmother, grandfather, older sister, and aunt. Devon had the most contagious smile you could ever imagine. "To know Devon, was to love Devon." Devon joins a legion of beautiful people who were caught in the cycle of addiction. This in no way reflects who he was as a person, because he was willing to go above and beyond to help a friend out.