Cold Case: Teen boxer’s life cut short

It was 10:50 a.m. on March 10, 2004, when authorities stumbled upon the body of Devaun Drayton in the Phelps Career Senior High School parking lot. He had been shot in the head.

Before his death, Devaun had been alternating between households, living with his dad in Capitol Heights and his mom and grandmother in Northeast. But more and more, he was opting to stay in the dangerous neighborhood where his mother lived, according to his father, Gary Russell Sr.

Devaun was one of 11 of Russell’s kids, but because he came from a different marriage, he wasn’t a permanent member of the Capitol Heights home where the other children resided. He was a dropout who had last attended Browne Junior High in Northeast in May 2002. After that, he had a brief stint at an all-boys school in Pennsylvania that serves juvenile delinquents.

But Devaun’s potential as a boxer kept his future bright. In the ring, Devaun was so talented that he could have made it to the 2008 Olympics, according to Russell, who was also his trainer.

When Devaun was 10, he won a National Silver Gloves youth boxing tournament. Later, despite little preparation, he won a National Golden Gloves tournament. It was his last fight.

He “made it look easy, man,” Russell recalled to reporters after his son’s death. “He didn’t train five days. He was that good.”

Russell, hoping to save his son from a life on the streets of Northeast, contacted a coach in Florida who specialized in training young boxers. The coach thought he could get Devaun into the 2008 Olympics.

He mailed Devaun a plane ticket to Florida where he would start training seriously. The flight was scheduled for March 11, 2004 — just one day after Devaun’s life was cut short by a bullet.

Devaun was later buried with the plane ticket in his pocket.

Anyone with information regarding the death of Devaun Drayton is asked to call D.C. police at 202-727-9099.