BALTIMORE — The Baltimore Banners Hockey team is mourning the deaths of two of their own.
Davon Barnes, 20, and an unidentified 22-year-old member of the program were shot and killed Monday in the 3000 block of East Monument Street.
“They were just good kids," said Antoine Green, who was a mentor and one of their coaches.
Green said the two had dreams.
He said they were well on their way to starting their own t-shirt business.
“They didn’t want to work for anybody," he said. "They said they knew that. We want to own our own. We want to be entrepreneurs. We want to work for ourselves. We want to build something. And that was a future past Baltimore.”
Green said the two had infectious personalities.
"Always met you with a hug and a smile," he said.
The young men spent nearly their entire lives a part of a non-profit called The Tender Bridge, which started the hockey program. The non-profit works with at-risk youth in Baltimore.
Green and others with The Tender Bridge made it their life’s work to help keep kids off the streets. But, as hard as they tried to keep them safe, Barnes and his friend still became victims of gun violence in Baltimore.
"I literally just cried for 15 minutes," said Michelle Robinson, who was the Banners team mom. "The potential that they could have had, the things that they could have done will now not be realized at the hands of senseless gun violence.”
Robinson said she wants people to know these young men were not bad kids and worked hard to overcome their environment.
She said for them to lose their lives like this is devastating.
“It really hurts me to know that as much as they tried to escape from what may have been seen as their fate from being kids in the hood that this is how the journey ended," she said. "I just want people to know that they are real people and they meant something, and their lives were worth something.”
A GoFundMe has been setup to help pay for their funeral expenses. If you would like to donate, you can click on this link here.
As for the shooting investigation, no arrests have been made. If you have any information, give Baltimore Police a call.
