NEW IBERIA, La. (KLFY)-- A New Iberia community activist held a vigil Wednesday evening, mourning the loss of his own brother. The activist Donavon Davis said his family member was gunned down and killed on New Year's Eve.

It happened just before midnight on Lombart Street in New Iberia. According to Donavon Davis, his brother, 44-year-old Thaddeus Davis, was walking home from their grandmother's home when he was shot multiple times in the leg.

He said one of the bullets hit a main artery in his brother's leg. He bled out before he could be saved.

"Let us take this time to remember my brother, Thaddeus Davis, and remember where he was at in his life and the narrative of how he tried to triumph in this life, to beat the odds of the street life. This is what this is about, beating the odds of the street life," Donavon Davis said.

Donavon Davis has held countless vigils on the streets of New Iberia, continuously bringing awareness to violence in his community. Now he's holding one for his own family member.

"Thaddeus Davis was a person who had a heart, who just was caught up in the street life. He was a good person, but he could not lift out the good values of his life because of the circumstances surrounding him socially and environmentally and the person demons within him that he struggled to overcome, so that he could leave out the street life and live a quality life," he said.

Donavon Davis tries to reach his community with ministry and the gospel, hoping it will inspire or motivate those struggling to reach out for help, whether that be by finding a job, counseling, or faith.

"We're not distant or foreign from trying to save our communities or salvage young kids lives who are in the streets," he added. "It is very much real. There is so much we can do."

His goal is to give his community hope for change.

"I want to give that message to the people of my community, that all people out here are not as lost as you may think they are. They can be reached," he told News 10.

"I think my brother needed more love from the people of his community," he added. "I think if he had gotten that more love from people of this community, that could have made a difference in his life."

News 10 did speak to New Iberia police. A spokesperson said they are still investigating Thaddeus Davis's cause of death.

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