Javier Harrison and Devin Henderson: On Murder, Caping for White Oppressors and Dayton Politics

On the warm night of August 28th, 2019, 3 teenage boys were wandering around looking for a place to smoke. As some teenagers do, they were dabbling in recreational weed and fellowshipping as friends in their own way do-a typical rites of passage in the hood. 

They ducked off in what appeared to be an abandoned garage with a car on Connors St that was sitting on cinder blocks- dark and seemingly unoccupied, probably planning to smoke, laugh and talk for a quick second, then possibly go back to their respective homes or to get some food. 

Whatever their plans were, they never came to fruition, because just a little while later, 2 of the young men were dead and one was arrested for trying to back and check on his now deceased friends. 

Both Javier and Devin were just 17 years old. The third friend, 19 year old Jashin Gibson, was arrested after he returned back to the scene after Javier and Devin were shot. Gibson was held in Montgomery County Jail for almost 4 months on a first time probation charge and alleged breaking and entering. Jashin is released from the county jail, but not police custody. 

The boys’ killer, Victor Santana was indicted and arrested in November 2019 and recently had a court date in January. He is still booked in jail currently as court will be in recess until February 22nd. 

The case gained national attention along with local, as Dayton has been rocked with gun violence from last year until now. It asked some harrowing and heavy questions, including was this self defense considering that this garage was detached from Santana’s property, invoking the question of the Ohio self defense law called the Castle Doctrine.  According to Jimmy Harrison, the father of Javier Harrsion, said the boys had smoked in that garage plenty of times before. 

“I want answers because they have always been there smoking weed in that garage or whatever you want to call it. They have always been there, and they always hung there smoking weed in that garage.” 

Facebook user and longtime community activist Talis X (Kingt Moor on Facebook) was a vital instrument in supporting the case, pressing on county officials to thoroughly investigate, helping the Harrison and Henderson families heal by visiting them each Sunday on Connors St  along with the Dayton chapter of the Black Panthers and encouraging the community to write letters to Jashin. 

Talis also visited Jashin to talk to him and lend a big brotherly ear to tragedy as he was also once incarcerated. Talis received a letter from Jashin and he posted it to Facebook; it detailed the anguish Jashin felt and what truly happened that night in the murder of his freinds, despite what new reports, police and Santana were alleging. 

“He killed my best friends for no reason. They arrested me for going back

to tell the story so my friends wouldn't be wrongfully accused. From yours truly, JASHIN-NO JUSTICE, NO PEACE,” wrote Gibson. 

Talis says that community is important especially when it comes to young people, and he wants to change the narrative in Dayton of “If it doesn’t have anything to do with me, I shouldn’t involve myself” and being passive vs active, because the youth need us. 

“I’m always 10 toes down with my energy and focus being in the kids-shaping the future to build the future,” says Talis. 

This case rocked me to my core when I learned of it back in August-learning that amid all the fun and freedom that summer brings, these teens had their lives taken and summer dreams quickly turned into a fall nightmare. It was an out of body experience because I’m not writing about a national case, I’m writing about a senseless MURDER that happened in my own backyard. They attended DPS just like I did, lived in the hood just like I did and had an air of innocence. I personally don’t care what the racist, clueless, liberal and mainly White commenters in the Dayton Daily News comments say, this wasn’t justified. You snuck up on unsuspecting teens with no weapons, claimed you (Santana) feared for your life (I bet you did because the sight of Black skin makes you shake, huh?) and shot them in the back and thigh? Claim they were trespassing? 

As a resident of Dayton, this enrages and saddens me because it’s reflective of how we sometimes tend to fail our Black youth by talking about them instead of educating and fighting for them, especially our young Black men. A lot of Black folks were saying they shouldn’t be smoking that weed and should’ve moved along-so they shouldn’t have been typical teen boys? They shouldn’t be able to move freely through the city not doing harm to folks? They don’t deserve a chance to grow up? These kids are barely alive to celebrate Sweet 16’s anymore, let alone make it to 18. That’s scary, heartbreaking and unfair.

Sometimes growing up in the hood can be a war zone-seeing poverty, drugs, unsavory circumstances, incarceration, police brutality and the like leaves you with mental scars that never fade. I truly understand. But that doesn’t mean that we need to cape for our oppressors either because we’re scared of our own power. Santana is a murderer and needs to be held accountable.

Please, open up your eyes, heart and mind to the world around you and stop being complacent in just solving your own problems. These Dayton youth are broken and fragile and need us. Share the articles, show up to the meetings, do the work even if it’s in small ways. These kids relate to rappers like Roddy Rich, GHerbo and Rod Wave because they can co-sign pain and struggle-let’s flip that narrative. Press our city government and police on community issues like ya’ll press the IRS about  your taxes. No one is coming to save us but us- it may hit home for you next.