Family Of Teenager Killed In Ohio Car Crash Launch Fundraiser To Help Aspiring Barbers

The parents of Davion Flanagan are honoring his memory by launching a fundraiser to help other aspiring barbers.

The 19-year-old was killed in a car crash with his friend Dominic Russo in Strongsville, Ohio, in July 2022. The driver, Mackenzie Shirilla, was convicted of murder, aggravated vehicular homicide, felonious assault, drug possession and other crash-related offenses, according to PEOPLE. She was sentenced to two concurrent 15-year-to-life terms.

Flanagan’s dream was to become a barber and open his own shop. He was working full-time to save money and was in the process of applying to Allstate Hairstyling & Barber College in Cleveland, according to a fundraiser started by the Flanagan family. They started a GoFundMe campaign to fund the project and help aspiring barbers who are unable to pay school tuition.

“The amount of good that could be done in Davion’s name and the impact that he could still have on the world is something that gives us some joy and hope in the middle of all of this sadness and devastation,” Davion’s mother, Jaime Flanagan told PEOPLE.

“If we could help one or several or many of those people to a better, brighter future in our son’s name and our son’s honor, then that truly is a blessing, and we’re so happy to be involved with it,” Davion’s father Scott, added.

The Flanagans adopted Davion and his two younger sisters, Davyne and Dalia, when he was 8 years old. They believe he would have been honored to hear about the fundraiser.

“He showered love on people because I truly think that in his heart, that’s what he wanted for himself as well,” the father said.

They added that hundreds of friends and neighbors waited for over 4 hours to attend Davion’s wake, in a turn out they said was “phenomenal.”

“It was absolutely amazing,” Scott said.