Eleven-year-old Ayshawn Davis was laid to rest on Monday morning in Lansingburgh, where hundreds of people turned out to form a procession leading him to the cemetery.

"The community came together today, we rode in unison ... with a horse-drawn carriage into St. Peter's Cemetery, and it was absolutely beautiful," said Kenneth Zeoli of Equality for Troy.

What You Need To Know

  • Ayshawn Davis, an 11-year-old who was killed in a drive-by shooting, was laid to rest Monday

  • Hundreds of community members turned out to form a car procession to lead Davis from McLoughlin and Mason Funeral Home, past his home on Third Street in Lansingburgh, and past Jimmy’s Pizzeria, where he worked

  • The funeral service was held at St. Peter’s Cemetery

Family, friends, and community members gathered to celebrate the life and mourn the loss of a boy taken from his community too soon.

"The community support for Ayshawn's parents, and brothers and siblings ... it's heart-melting, but it's also heart-breaking," Zeoli said. "There was a sea of blue for Ayshawn, I can tell you that. There was tears and there was some laughter and memories, and talked about his favorite food and his favorite color and his best friends."

Zeoli and Emily Kief of Equality for Troy helped organize the community procession. They say this loss is personal.

"He was a true inspiration, even for us adults," Kief said. "He showed us what the future is going to look like."

That's because Davis had taken up a job at local pizza joint, Jimmy's Pizzeria, and was already protesting for change in the city, despite his young age.

"Ayshawn had protested with us anti-violence at Grace Baptist Church in Troy, the very church that was raffling off an AR-15 not even three months ago, and for Awshawn to be a victim of this senseless act of violence — gun violence — it's disturbing and it needs to stop," Zeoli said.

They say Davis' fight against violence is already making change.

"He wanted change in this city," Zeoli said. "And if he [was] going to be the very little boy that did it, he was gonna do it."

"He was one of us," Kief said.

Equality for Troy says it will continue to fight against gun violence and all violence in Troy in Davis' name.