Dinerral Jevone "Dick" Shavers (March 19, 1981 — December 28, 2006) was an American jazz drummer and educator from New Orleans, Louisiana, best known as a member of the Hot 8 Brass Band.
Career
Shavers was a founding member of the Hot 8 Brass Band, playing snare drum. He also taught music at L.E. Rabouin Career Magnet High School and created music programs for disadvantaged local youths. He appeared in the 2006 Spike Lee documentary film When the Levees Broke, discussing the devastation of his family home in the Lower 9th Ward following Hurricane Katrina.
Death
Shavers was fatally shot at around 5:30 p.m. on December 28, 2006, while driving his family in a black Chevrolet Malibu in the 2200 block of Dumaine Street in New Orleans. Although critically wounded, he continued driving four blocks before stopping. He was taken to a hospital but died within an hour. According to the Times-Picayune, Shavers was not the intended target; the teenager who shot him had intended to target Shavers' 15-year-old stepson in a dispute stemming from a neighborhood feud.
Shavers' murder, along with the murder of local filmmaker Helen Hill and a spate of other violent crimes in New Orleans within the same week, sparked a massive protest march on New Orleans City Hall on January 11, 2007. This protest led to the formation of the anti-violence organization Silence Is Violence.
Legacy
The Dinerral Shavers Educational Fund was established in 2007 by his sister Nakita Shavers to honor his memory through education, mentorship, and community-based programs for young people. Shavers' murder was discussed in Spike Lee's 2010 sequel documentary If God Is Willing and Da Creek Don't Rise and was referenced in the HBO series Treme (season 2, episodes 4 and 5).
