Loved ones honor slain Baltimore rapper "President Davo" with mural, vegetable garden

BALTIMORE -- Family and friends of rising Baltimore rapper David Boykin aka President Davo held a celebration of life day party today.  

Boykin would have turned 29 on Sunday but his life was cut short when he was shot and killed in Baltimore's South Clifton Park neighborhood on October 6.  

He was a well-known rapper with over 30,000 monthly Spotify listeners and 11 released albums before his untimely death.     

WJZ reporter Caroline Foreback spoke with Davo's mother at the event on Saturday about how his loved ones are carrying on his legacy.  

It was all about turning pain into purpose and giving back to the community.  

Nicole Queen says this mural behind Payne Memorial Church perfectly captures what her son David Boykin was about. 

"He feeds people. His production company is everybody eats, so I want to depict that. We're feeding the community, spiritually, physically, mentally," Queen said.   

Beneath the mural, a plot of land will be used for a fruit and vegetable garden in Boykin's honor to help feed people in the community. 

"He gave so much of himself so selflessly all the time that I don't feel like I lost. I just thank God for the opportunity to know him...to watch him grow as a man," Queen explained. 

Between the church and the community, Queen said they were able to give out about 100 backpacks, along with school supply kits for the neighborhood kids.  

"This will be a space where people will recognize that just because there has been some blight and some death and some murder and some violence, doesn't mean that life and beauty can't come from those same grounds," Reverend Melech Thomas, senior pastor of Payne Memorial Church said. 

Boykin used his voice to chase his dreams and lift up his community.

At the block party, his grandmother, Loretta Gardner, wanted to help others use their voice by getting them registered to vote. 

"This is what he would want us to do," Loretta said. "It's been uplifting."

Reverend Melech Thomas says they hope to have the fruit and vegetable garden complete by March.