An elementary school community in the Fort Worth area is grieving the loss of a beloved teacher’s assistant who was shot and killed in a road rage attack while driving on Interstate 20 in south Fort Worth on Thursday August 13.
LaTaivia Davis worked at E. Ray Elementary School in Everman ISD and had been eagerly preparing her classroom for the upcoming school year. Principal Alexis Young described Davis as a proud Everman graduate who had returned to work in the very district where she grew up.
Young said Davis had already decorated her classroom door and was visibly excited about welcoming her new students. Her enthusiasm for the school year ahead was evident to everyone around her.
Fort Worth Police say Davis and suspect Patrick Lawrence were both traveling eastbound on I-20 when Lawrence fired a single shot from a 9mm Canik pistol into her vehicle. According to an arrest affidavit Lawrence stated he could not see inside Davis’s car due to tinted windows and fired in her direction as she passed him.
After seeing that his shot struck Davis’s front passenger window Lawrence exited the highway and went to work. He later gave officers consent to search his vehicle and told them the gun was still inside. The weapon was recovered loaded and ballistic evidence linked it to the scene of the shooting. Lawrence was arrested and charged with murder.
Fort Worth Police said investigators continue to review video evidence connected to the case.
On Thursday the Everman ISD community gathered in front of E. Ray Elementary to honor Davis’s memory. Balloons were released in her honor and students presented her family with a piece of artwork featuring their fingerprints in the shape of a tree.
Angela Johnson the Crisis and Counseling Coordinator for Everman ISD addressed the crowd saying Davis was a creative person who helped others see beauty in the world. Davis’s mother who also works at the school was among the family members surrounded by students staff athletes and community members during the emotional memorial.
Johnson said Davis’s legacy belongs to the lives she touched the students she inspired and the creativity she brought to her work every day. Young echoed those sentiments describing Davis as thoughtful reflective and deeply committed to her role as an educator.
Davis’s death has left a profound void in the Everman ISD community just days before the new school year was set to begin.
