“By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.” (1 John 3:16)

July 28, 2005, shots ring out and Alisha Quillen, age 19, is fatally wounded. June 9, 2010, shots ring out and DaChanna ‘Muffin’ Dotson, age 17, is also fatally wounded. December 17, 2015, shots again ring out and Zaevion Dobson, age 15, is also fatally wounded.

What do these 3 young adults have in common?

In a 15-year period, five years separating each incident, three young adults, were shot and killed shielding others. Alisha Quillen was struck by bullets when Corey McNew, (he served 6 years in prison when he plead guilty to facilitating second-degree murder, in the shooting). Ms. Quillen had dove in front of the barrage of bullets to shield a young child.

DaChanna Dotson, or Muffin as she was affectionately called by her family and friends, was shot and killed when convicted killer Samuel Glass (now serving a life sentence for the murder), fired at convicted drug dealer Antonio Miller, with whom he had an earlier beef with. As the shots rang out, Miller ran to where Muffin was and Glass continued firing. Muffin without any thoughts of her own safety, grabbed and shielded her 1-year-old nephew, thus saving his life, but sacrificing hers in the meanwhile.

Zaevion Dobson, a 15-year-old merging football star and excellent student at Fulton High School, immediately throws his body across 3 young girls, when shots ring out from a car driven by Brandon Perry (whom was seeking retaliation for the earlier shooting of his mother’s house in which she was struck but not fatally). Zaevion’s short life was snuffed out, but the 3 young ladies are alive today because of his quick thinking.

Three teenagers with budding futures, not even in the prime of their lives yet, struck down by thugs in the most cowardly way possible, shooting a gun without regard of their targets or whom they hit. Teenagers that in the case of Alisha had already graduated from High School, Muffin was due to graduate from her school the following May with honors, and Zaevion, a rising football star and student, with a bright future in front of him.

Law enforcement officers are trained and paid to put their lives and bodies on the line to protect the innocent, yet these teens did so without any regard for their own safety.

When will the madness in the streets end is anyone’s guess, however, the Knox County District Attorney Charme Allen, as well as Knoxville Mayor Madeline Rogero, and Knoxville Police Chief David Rausch have vowed to step up enforcement and prosecution for those that chose to show wanton disregard for the lives of others. As law enforcement steps up its war on gang activities, we can only hope that the lives of these 3 heroes will not be in vain.

R.I.P. Alisha, DaChanna, and Zaevion, we hardly knew you but each of you have made a major impact on the lives of others and the city of Knoxville.