THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, January 16, 1997 TAG: 9701160323
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY MICHELLE MIZAL, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: 70 lines
Donald Elbert Overton loved basketball so much he was building his own miniature backboard.
The unfinished wood and plexi-glass creation still stands on the back shelf of his 7th bell construction class at Tallwood High School.
Every day after school, Donald, 15, would meet his best friend, fellow freshman Javou Smith, also 15, in front of the school's main office. They would take the 15-minute walk back to Javou's house to play Donald's favorite sport.
Donald died Tuesday during a physical education class. He will not be meeting Javou anymore to play the game he was so fond of.
Family and friends Wednesday coped with the loss of a son, cousin, nephew, student and best friend.
``Do you think if he never came to school that day, he wouldn't have died?'' asked Javou in a voice just above a whisper. He sat in an office chair with his head down and eyes fixed on the gray carpeting.
``We don't know,'' was all assistant principal Brian Baxter could say.
Javou remembered his daily morning walks to school with Donald. At 6:30 a.m. Donald, who was born in Virginia Beach, would leave his two-story house in Brandon and walk two houses down to Javou's. Then it was off to school - joking, roughhousing and laughing all the way there.
Javou said sometimes Donald would talk about going to college and becoming a basketball star - his favorite team was the Chicago Bulls. Javou remembers Donald's favorite move - the slam dunk. He said Donald would just hang there after the dunk, his more than 6-foot body dangling from the rim by his long slender arms.
The six-year buddies would arrive at school just in time for breakfast - always chicken patties and milk.
After breakfast, the two would walk upstairs and separate - Javou to Science, Donald to Algebraic Foundations. ``I'll meet you after school,'' Javou always said.
If they didn't play basketball after school, the pair played what they called ``the Game'' a.k.a. Sega and Sony Playstation. In fact, Donald was up late the night before he passed away playing with his brand new Playstation - a Christmas gift from his mother.
``He was up till 3 o'clock in the morning,'' said Anita Overton, 21, his older sister. ``I know because I was telling him to go to bed because he had to get up early for school in the morning.''
Family members and friends went about the day Wednesday, reflecting on Donald.
Anita Overton did her own thing, answering phone calls and trying to keep busy.
Cheryl Overton, Donald's mother, was upstairs getting dressed. His cousin, LaDarin, 18, listened to Tupac - one of Donald's favorite rap artists.
Donald liked listening to rap. Just like he watched movies and went roller-skating. All the normal stuff for a normal teen-ager, family members and friends said.
Donald's younger brother Jonathan, 6, silently watched Nickelodeon in the family room while Mother Overton, his grandmother, opened mail in the kitchen, the curtains drawn together, allowing only a small amount of light into the room.
``I want people to remember him as always smiling,'' Mother Overton said, pausing to collect the strength to continue. ``He was friendly, outgoing but quiet in his own way.''
``He had a million-dollar smile,'' Principal Bernard E. Morgan III said. ``He was just an average kid with average grades. He liked to kid around. Healthy too. From what I hear he was so health-conscious that he didn't even take any aspirin.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Donald Overton, 15, a big Chicago Bulls fan, often talked of going
to college and becoming a basketball star.