JACKSONVILLE, Fla — Feb. 16 is Jordan Davis Day. It would’ve been his 27th birthday.
In Downtown Jacksonville, there was a celebration for the life he lived and the impact he has made since he was murdered.
Davis was killed in 2012 at a gas station with his friends after an argument with Michael Dunn over loud music. Dunn is convicted of shooting and killing Davis and is serving a life sentence in prison.
“Has it come to this in our country that even loud music can get you killed?" Ron Davis, Jordan's father, said. "So we want to play our music loud anytime we feel like it. We going to do that as an homage to Jordan that you shouldn’t have died. You shouldn’t have left this world because you played your music loud.”
Nearly 10 years since his murder, his father Ron Davis continues to share about how his son lived. For Jordan's birthday, music will be played loud in the heart of Jacksonville at James Weldon Johnson Park.
Friends of James Weldon Johnson Park's executive director Liz McCoy is sure of it.
“We’ll turn it up. We will definitely turn it up for Jordan," McCoy said. "What Jordan’s life meant was about teaching tolerance. Unfortunately he died tragically because people were not tolerant.”
His birthday party will also commemorate the foundation his father named after him.
“I will keep, as long as I have strength in my body, to work on his behalf and to also take care of the youth of the community as much as I can," Ron Davis said.
In the past 9 and a half years, the foundation has given 10 college scholarships.
Join friends and family at James Weldon Johnson Park in front of City Hall from 11 a.m. to 2.m. for cake and live music on Wednesday.