Latasha Nekita DAVIS

DAVIS - WHISNANT. God, in His infinite wisdom, saw fit to call from labor to reward, our beloved Latasha Nekita Davis, on Tuesday, October 20, 2009. Her life's journey began November 2, 1980 in Richmond, Va. Tasha attended and graduated from the Richmond Public School System. She was employed as a customer service representative with Venturi Staffing Partners. She was a very active team mother for the Highland Springs Saints Cheering Squad. She was a very fun, loving and high-spirited person. But, most of all, she was a loving devoted mother to Jazmine Whisnant, 9, who went to God's eternal garden with her. Jazmine was an honor roll student at Donahoe Elementary School of Henrico County. She was a member of the Highland Springs Saints Cheering Squad. Jazmine was a role model for all of her classmates, which earned her the Prestigious Citizenship Award in second grade for exhibiting excellent citizenship the entire school year. Tasha was also devoted to her son, Jamie Whisnant, 3, who traveled the same path with them on the same day. Jamie was an active three-year-old. They leave to cherish their memories fiance‚ and loving father, Jamie L. Whisnant; mother/grandmother, Lloydette Bey-Wilkerson (Kenneth); father / grandfather, James Palmer; brothers/uncles, Curtis Bell, Khabir Bey and Antoine Wilkerson; grandmother/ great-grandmother, Ethel Davis; grandmother, Vanessa Wilkerson (Matthew); great-grandfather/great-grandmother/great-great-grandfather/great-great-grandmother, Harry Jones (Mary); great-grandfather, McCommodore Charles; three nephews, three nieces, four aunts/great-aunts, five uncles/great-uncles, eight great/great-great aunts, four great/ great-great uncles. There is also an enormous number of other relatives and loyal, dedicated friends. Their remains rest at Chiles Funeral Home, 2100 Fairmount Ave. Homegoing services will be conducted 12 noon, Tuesday, October 27, 2009, at St. Paul's Baptist Church, 4247 Creighton Rd. Interment Washington Memorial Cemetery, Sandston. Remains will rest in church one hour prior to service.


Published: October 23, 2009

More than 250 people gathered last night on a youth football field in Highland Springs to remember a mother and her two children, all of whom died in a fire this week at their home.

Killed in Tuesday's blaze were Latasha N. Davis, 28; her daughter, Jazmine Whisnant, 8; and son Jamie L. Whisnant Jr., 3.

"She was such a good mother," said Davis' aunt Deborah White. "I don't think I ever told her that."

People of all ages, some holding candles, formed a circle in the center of a field for the Highland Springs Saints youth football and cheering league. The crowd included dozens of children in their football and cheerleading uniforms.

Jamie L. Whisnant Jr., 3, his sister, Jazmine Whisnant, 8, and their mother is Latasha N. Davis, 28, were killed in a house fire this week.


Jamie was a smart boy who had celebrated his birthday this past weekend, cousin Ronee Davis said. Jazmine was a Saints cheerleader, she said, always ready to show off her cheers for her relatives.

Ronee Davis, 19, said Latasha Davis had been like an older sister, visiting her at college in Baltimore to make sure she had everything she needed.

Darryl Johnson, president of the Highland Springs Saints, said the deaths have been hard on the children.

"The older ones understand a lot better," Johnson said, adding that he is trying to explain what happened to his own 5-year-old daughter, a cheerleader for the Saints.

"She thinks only old people are supposed to die," Johnson said.

The blaze erupted in the family's home in the First block of Battery Avenue, which extends north from Nine Mile Road on the western edge of Highland Springs.

The cause of the fire still is undetermined. Latasha Davis' body was found in a bedroom hallway, and her two children were found in a rear bedroom. All three died of smoke inhalation. A family dog also perished.