Everyone in the family knew that Christopher Davis was his grandmother’s favorite.
Christopher was Cloieand McDaniel’s first grandson and she raised him on East Stafford Street in Germantown, along with his three younger sisters. Christopher’s cousin and aunt also shared the three-bedroom home.
“He could do no wrong in her eyes,” his sister, Ericka Charles, remembered. “He could talk to her about anything.”
As a boy, Christopher enjoyed playing pranks on family and friends. One time, he locked young Ericka in between the front door and the screen door, smooshing her like a pancake. Another time, he climbed on top of Ericka’s bedroom door like Spider-Man, startling her. When their cousin got a ring stuck on his chubby finger, Christopher informed the boy that he would need to chop it off.
But Christopher also had a sensitive side. Whenever he heard a booming thunderstorm, he rushed to take cover under his grandmom’s dress.
In 2007, Christopher’s father, also named Christopher, was killed in Germantown. Christopher’s aunt and grandfather died that same year.
Haunted by loss, Christopher began struggling with addiction; it would continue throughout his adult life. Cloieand recognized the signs that her grandson was unsettled years before the rest of the family did. She encouraged him to “pray the enemy away,” and he walked around with a tiny Bible.
In and out of rehab, Christopher would always return home to Cloieand; there was never any question she would take him back.
In 2019, Christopher once again knocked on his grandmom’s door. Ignoring other family members’ objections, Cloieand immediately pulled out the tubes connected to her oxygen and negotiated a flight of stairs to let him in, recalled Christopher’s sister, Tyisha Charles.
“That’s my grandson,” she explained. “I gotta open that door.”
Cloieand died later that year and Christopher sang at her funeral. On October 14, 2021, Christopher was shot multiple times on the 6300 block of Milton Street in Germantown. Police found him lying in the street and took him to Albert Einstein Medical Center. He died on October 30, 2021 — Cloieand’s birthday. Police have made no arrests.
Christopher is buried at White Chapel Memorial Park in Feasterville.
Born on May 28, 1986 in Germantown to Christopher Davis Sr. and Tealia Charles, Christopher had a natural gift for boxing and enjoyed sparring with his father. Daring and strong, Christopher played Manhunt, an extreme version of tag, which involved jumping off trees and roofs.
He also excelled at football while attending Roosevelt Theodore Middle School, often competing against high schoolers.
Bursting with energy and craving acceptance, he became a neighborhood personality through his goofy raps posted on Instagram under Laughy Records. He nicknamed himself “Yao” as a nod to his father, who would use the catchphrase “yao mean” instead of “you know what I mean.”
Christopher was extremely protective of his sisters. One time, his sister, Felicia, had an emotional outburst and Christopher took her blows, holding her and hugging her. After Ericka had a traumatic experience, Christopher insisted on picking her up from school. A couple months before his murder, he helped retrieve Ericka’s car keys from her locked car.
After enrolling in Job Corps, Christopher took various landscaping and retail jobs. He often journaled and wrote about opening a facility to help others struggling with addiction.
“He wanted to get his life together and get clean,” Ericka said. “He knew how hard it could be for people.”
During a recent rehab stay, Christopher had put on weight and appeared happy, Ericka remembered. At his request, she bought him a cherry water ice.
“But then he returned to the same neighborhood, hanging out with the same people,” she said. That “would be his downfall.”
Prior to his death, Christopher had received a certificate for completing an addiction program.
“Even to the day he passed, he was a fighter but he never picked a fight,” Ericka said. “He wanted to get his life together and get clean.”
A reward of up to $20,000 if available to anyone that comes forward with information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the persons responsible for Christopher Davis’ murder. Anonymous calls can be submitted by calling the Citizens Crime Commission at 215-546-TIPS. Information can also be submitted to the Philadelphia Police Department online or by calling 215-686-TIPS.
Resources are available for people and communities that have endured gun violence in Philadelphia. Click here for more information.
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