Franklin youths touched neighbors, friends
Published in the Home News Tribune 05/15/05

FRANKLIN - He was a bubbly kid and a great friend. She was a beautiful girl and always in a good mood.

That's what grieving neighbors said yesterday about Myles Davis and his sister Courtney, the brother and sister who died early Friday morning in a hotel fire.

"They were a very tight-knit family," said Maria Rivera, who lived down the street from the family until a few months ago, when the Davises sold their home on South Groesser Place in preparation for a move to North Carolina.

"They were well-loved, great people," said neighbor John Delgado.

Myles, 11, and Courtney, 16, died in a fire early Friday morning at the Staybridge Suites on Davidson Avenue. Investigators believe a cigarette that was tossed into a pile of mulch near a wooden staircase ignited the fire. Four others were injured, including the children's mother, Irene Laverne Davis, who was taken to St. Barnabas Hospital in Livingston. Known to her friends simply as Laverne, she was listed in critical but stable condition yesterday.

Neighbors said Wayne Davis, the children's father and Laverne's husband, had gotten a job as an IT manager near Durham, N.C. Laverne and the kids had planned to stay at the Staybridge until the end of the school year and then join Wayne in North Carolina. Maria Rivera said she picked Wayne up at the airport when he flew in Friday to be with his wife.

Maria's son Mike Rivera, 12, recalled his friend Myles.

"He was a great friend. We played outside, played video games, we did everything," Mike said.

Myles, a sixth-grader at Hillcrest Elementary School, went with Mike and Mike's father, Will Rivera, to the St. Matthias Carnival Thursday night; Courtney was going to go the next night with her friends.

Courtney, a junior on the junior varsity basketball team at Franklin High School, was very well-liked, high school principal Orvyl Wilson said yesterday.

"She was a good student, all-around a good person," Wilson said.

Wilson said counseling services were offered to students Friday and will resume tomorrow for as long as deemed necessary.

"The library was packed," said Danny Rivera, 17, Maria and Will's older son, about the counseling sessions. "She had no enemies."

With permission from Wilson and the girl with whom Courtney shared a locker, Danny looked in Courtney's locker yesterday for a picture of her they could use to print memorial T-shirts. Instead, he found only a baseball card with Myles' picture on it.

"I'm going to miss her," said Danny.

Neighbors said they had planned to hold a going-away party for the family early next month.

PERISHED WITH BROTHER IN FRANKLIN HOTEL FIRE
Peers mourn loss of teen

Published in the Home News Tribune 05/26/05
By REKA BALA
GANNETT NEW JERSEY

FRANKLIN - They said Franklin High School junior Courtney Davis was a good friend, a dedicated student and a determined athlete.

They said she was admired by her peers and she never failed to tell them how much she respected and cared for them.

"Courtney showed me so much about dedication, about commitment," said close friend and classmate Joi Stevens. "She had the biggest heart. Thank you, Courtney, for all of your blessings."

A memorial service was held yesterday afternoon in the high school auditorium for the 16-year-old who died May 13 in a fire at the Staybridge Suites hotel on Davidson Avenue. Her 11-year-old brother, Myles, also died in the fire while her mother, Irene Laverne Davis, was seriously injured.

At the time of the fire, the Davis family had just sold their home to move to North Carolina and join Courtney and Myles' father, Wayne, who was starting a new job. They were staying at the hotel until the children finished the school year.

Both Courtney's mother and father attended yesterday's memorial.

"It's a wonderful experience to see the positive impact my children had," her mother said about the ceremony.

About 300 students stayed after school for the service. Several wore T-shirts with Courtney's picture on them followed by the words: "Heaven's New Angel."

Throughout the hour-long service, teachers and students took turns talking about Courtney's accomplishments and the impact she had on her classmates.

Greg Job, Courtney Davis' English teacher, read an excerpt from a journal she had submitted where she had written about how much she loved her father and her fear of leaving her friends behind to move to North Carolina.

Stevens, one of five students who spoke at the service and a member of the junior varsity basketball team, said Davis would often come to her for advice on the sport. Stevens said through that friendship she actually learned to be a better person.

The high school community presented gifts to the Davis family. Among the gifts were a scrapbook made by close friends and a check for $1,231.

After receiving the gifts, Wayne Davis thanked the audience for "letting us know that you were touched by Courtney's life."

"That tells us that we did a good job in raising her," he said.

Wayne Davis gave students and teachers the family's e-mail address: wlcmnc @ yahoo.com (remove spaces - each letter stands for the beginning of all of their names - so they could reach out to him in case they still needed comfort.