‘We will never be the same,’ family of 15-year-old killed in gang shooting tells man as he’s sentenced to 14 years

A man connected to a drive-by gang shooting that killed a 15-year-old boy in Spokane was sentenced to more than 14 years in prison Friday.

Elijah J. Davis, 22, pleaded guilty last month to second-degree murder in the 2020 shooting of Norvell Amos before Spokane County Superior Court Judge Raymond Clary sentenced Davis to 170 months in prison. The sentence was recommended by the prosecution and defense.

“We will never be the same,” Rameshia Pursley, Amos’ older sister, said via Zoom.

A photo of Amos was placed in the jury box for the court to see during Friday’s sentencing. Amos was shot in the head at 3104 E. Fifth Ave. in East Central Spokane.

Davis, a Swavii Crip gang member, was the driver in the shooting while Vashaughn Eirls, who was 16 at the time, pulled the trigger. Eirls was sentenced to more than 16 years in prison in 2021 for second-degree murder.

Amos’ parents told police that Swavii gang members had been harassing and threatening their son and his 13-year-old brother, according to court documents.

Two days before the shooting, a pair of Swavii members had driven by in a gray Chevrolet Impala with guns out the window “attempting to intimidate” Amos into joining the gang, Amos’ father told police.

Amos’ brother, 19-year-old Kash, was killed outside the NorthTown Mall in a drive-by shooting in 2021.

Davis, wearing white Spokane County inmate clothing, stood and sympathized with the Amos family while disputing some of their claims that he will continue to commit crimes when he gets out of prison, and that he bragged about the shooting.

“I didn’t plan for this to happen,” Davis said. “I didn’t want this to happen.”

He said he never met Norvell Amos, and that he tried to tell his friends numerous times to not escalate any disagreements into violence.

“I am guilty because I should have known better,” Davis said. “I should have known going over there will cause problems.”

Tara Jones, Norvell Amos’ aunt, said her nephew was smart, kind and a “brilliant math whiz.”

“You will be getting less time than he got to live,” Jones told Davis.

She said Norvell Amos never even got the chance to get his driver’s license.

Jones asked for the maximum sentence allowed “because the gang violence has to stop. There was no reason for that.”

LaKeisha Davis, Davis’ mother, looked toward Amos’ loved ones and apologized through tears.

“I didn’t raise Elijah to be that kid,” she said.

LaKeisha Davis then looked at her son and told him she hoped he learned a lesson.

“You know I love you so much,” she said.

Elijah Davis is set for a plea and sentencing hearing March 10 to resolve other felony charges against him. He will serve three years of probation when he is released from prison.