Zaevion William Dobson (June 28, 2000 – December 17, 2015) was a school football player at Fulton High School in

Knoxville, Tennessee Knoxville is a city in and the county seat of Knox County, Tennessee, Knox County in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 United States census, Knoxville's population was 190,740, making it the largest city in the East Tennessee Grand Di ...

. He became the recipient of the

Arthur Ashe Courage Award The Arthur Ashe Courage Award (sometimes called the Arthur Ashe Award for Courage or Arthur Ashe Courage and Humanitarian Award) is presented as part of the ESPY Awards. It is named for the American tennis player Arthur Ashe. Although it is a sp ...

, for shielding three girls from gunfire.

Biography

Zaevion William Dobson was born on June 28, 2000, in

, to parents Zenobia Dobson and Lionell Kimber. Dobson has two brothers, Zack Dobson and Markastin Taylor. He was a football player wearing the number 24 at Fulton High School, playing for the Falcons.

Death and legacy

On December 17, 2015, Dobson shielded three girls from an apparent random

drive-by shooting A drive-by shooting is a type of assault that usually involves the perpetrator(s) firing a weapon from within a motor vehicle and then fleeing. Drive-by shootings allow the perpetrator(s) to quickly strike their target and flee the scene before ...

in his neighborhood. Dobson was shot and killed. The suspects' vehicle later crashed, the driver had suffered a gunshot wound and later died, and the other two suspects fled the scene but were later captured. Police believe Dobson's death was the last of two other related shootings earlier in the evening. For his actions, Dobson posthumously received the

in July 2016. His mother accepted the award on his behalf. To honor Dobson's legacy, Tennessee Volunteer and Knoxville native Todd Kelly Jr. elected to wear Dobson's number (24) for the 2016 college football season. On October 27, 2017, a ceremony was held at the Falcons’ final game. Dobson's number was retired, as he would have been a senior and would have had his last game that night. On February 2, 2018, Christopher Drone Bassett was sentenced to life in prison, while Richard Gregory Williams III and Kipling Colbert Jr. received sentences of over 100 years in prison. The Change Center was opened in December 2018 partly as inspiration from Dobson's acts.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dobson, Xaevion 2000 births 2015 deaths Deaths by firearm in Tennessee Incidents of violence against boys Child murder in the United States People murdered in Tennessee Players of American football from Knoxville, Tennessee Violence against children