KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (Story courtesy of WVLT) – It’s been ten years since Zenobia Dobson got the call.
“When my phone started ringing, I knew that it was something,” she said.
Dec. 17, 2015 is a night she’ll never forget.
“He was waiting in the door for me one last time,” Zenobia Dobson recalls. “He opened the door and asked, ‘Could he leave?’ And I told him yes.”
That was the final time she saw her son.
That night, three men opened fire in the Lonsdale neighborhood of Knoxville in a drive-by shooting. Zaevion Dobson died shielding his friends from the gunfire.
“For him to be called to do something that powerful, it was an act of God,” Zenobia Dobson said.
Zaevion Dobson’s heroic act drew international praise. For his bravery, he was honored with the Arthur Ashe Award for Courage at the 2016 ESPY Awards.
Now, 10 years later, while the world has largely moved on, the challenge has become how to keep Zaevion’s memory alive.
Instead of grieving quietly, his mother has become an outspoken proponent of gun safety, and her son’s biggest cheerleader.
“My scars are my medals, I wear them around my neck every day,” she said. “I would like to see change in my community.”
Zaevion’s mother visits the Zaevion Dobson Memorial Park once every two weeks. The park has gone largely unchanged since it opened in April of 2017.
“I would like to see the park get a facelift, Zenobia Dobson admits. ”I wish that we could have a basketball court and a football field. My seven-year-old grandson, he comes here quite often. “I know he’s outgrown it.”
Rob Black has worked at Fulton High School for over 30 years and served as Zaevion’s head football coach.
The current seniors were younger than 10 years old when he passed away.
“If you come to a game, most of the time we’ll have some kind of recognition every football game,” says Black. “We always do it at the 24-yard line where his jersey is.”
Zaevion was a rising star in the Knoxville-area high school ranks. He had just finished his sophomore campaign, helping the Falcons to a 9-3 record and a second-round playoff berth.
His No. 24 jersey sits on the Fulton High field.
Source: WVLT/CBS News(KALB)
“If you look throughout the school, there’s 24’s in different areas and people ask questions,” Black said. “It gives you an opportunity to tell that story.”
A pair of $2,400 scholarships are awarded annually in Zaevion’s memory.
Zenobia Dobson still lives in the Lonsdale neighborhood.
“It’s my home. This is what I know. This is how I was raised,” she says of her decision to remain in the community. “We were raised here on love.”
Zenobia Dobson said she knows her son is in a better place.
“I miss him every single day,” she said. “If Zaevion had a chance to come back here, he wouldn’t. He would tell me, ‘Mom, it’s so fun in heaven. Heaven is a beautiful place.’”
Zenobia Dobson dedicates her time to gun safety as a member of Moms Demand Action.
Jan. 24 in Knox County is Zavion Dobson Day.
All three convicted in the murder of Zaevion Dobson are serving life sentences.
