Former Golden Valley football player Javiya Evans slain in Oakland

Javiya Evans wanted to be the next Adrian Peterson. The former Golden Valley High running back looked up to the Minnesota Vikings star so much that Evans’ nickname became “A.P.”

Evans was using football and school as a way to escape a troubled past. He played at Golden Valley High in 2013 and was a freshman at Merced College last season.

However, Evans decided to put his football dreams on hold to move to Oakland to be closer to his twin daughters, who were born last July, and their mother.

Evans was fatally shot last month in North Oakland, leaving family and friends heartbroken. He was 20 years old.

“He knew Oakland was a dangerous place for him,” said Merced County District Attorney Larry Morse II, whose family became close friends with Evans. “His life didn’t have to unfold that way. We talked about getting a degree and writing a different scenario. We’re all heartstricken about it. It’s devastated my boys. It’s like we lost a family member. A.P. just never caught a break.”

According to the East Bay Times, the shooting happened about 8:15 a.m. June 23. Evans was visiting some people at an apartment in the 2300 block of Baker Street in Oakland. According to police, Evans got into an argument with another man and was shot.

No arrests have been made.

According to Morse, Evans made frequent trips between Merced and Oakland.

“I know he had family there,” Morse said. “A lot of kids grow up with danger lurking around. The thing is, I never saw A.P. get mad. He was trying to figure out how to do right by him and what was best for his kids. He was back and forth from here to Oakland. He had family there, and I think he had more structure here and less danger.”

Evans showed up at Golden Valley High in the spring of 2013. After the school petitioned the Sac-Joaquin Section office, he was granted another six months of athletic eligibility, which allowed him to play football that fall.

Evans played in seven games for the Cougars and led the team in rushing with 763 yards and three touchdowns.

“The biggest thing I remember is he was as funny as could be,” said Golden Valley coach Dennis Stubbs. “People liked him. We had no problems with him. We knew he had a dark side. We had heard about his past. But for us in football, he did everything we asked him to do.”

Evans had lost his mother, Felicha Ward, who was killed by a hit-and-run driver on March 8, 2014, in East Oakland, according to the East Bay Times. She was 38 years old.

Evans moved to Merced with his cousin Ralisha Jones, 28, to get away from the violence in Oakland, but after the birth of his daughters, he wanted to move back to get a job to provide for them and their mother.

“He was a great father, an awesome dad who was very active with his kids,” Jones told the East Bay Times. “He was there for his kids.”

It was through football that Evans became friends with Morse’s sons, Ethan and Ryan.

“I think our home became an oasis for A.P. He was a very good, decent young man,” Morse said. “He was trying to get away from the streets of Oakland. I think we offered him stability, a place to go spend the night, a shower and meals.”

Morse reached out to former Merced College football coach Tony Lewis, who is still an assistant coach with the Blue Devils. Morse informed Lewis that Evans wanted to play football at Merced College and was hoping Lewis could help him get settled in and make sure he was taking the classes he needed to take.

Evans was a freshman last fall on the Merced College football team, where he made the transition to receiver and played special teams for the Blue Devils.

“He worked hard,” Lewis said. “I believe he got some reps in games. The thing I remember is he always had a smile on his face. I thought he was going to come in and do some things for us this year, but I had heard he was going to Oakland to be with his girls.

“I thought he was a good kid. Like a lot of the kids we get, he had some rough edges to him, but I thought he wanted to do good things and get an education. He would come into the counseling office a lot and check in on his classes. Always had a big smile on his face and he was very respectful.”

Trying to be there for his daughters in Oakland and play football in Merced became too tough for Evans, and he quit football after just the second game of the season.

“He missed the whole month of July and most of August so in the fall he was way behind,” said Merced College coach Bob Casey. “He was a great athlete. He had a ton of potential, a gifted kid. But he never really reconnected to playing when he was here because of his daughters in Oakland. He never dove back in 100 percent.”

Evans’ funeral was held Friday in Oakland. The funeral fell on the same date as Evans’ mother’s birthday. According to Casey, some of his former Merced College teammates attended the funeral, wearing their Blue Devils uniforms.

“You never want to see something like this happen,” Casey said. “I was in a fog a few days myself. He had a lot of friends on the team that were hit pretty hard with it. I don’t know how to put the whole picture together. He did have a ton of potential. He was a gifted, smooth runner, lightning fast.

“Given the opportunity, he could have lit it up for us. He was a super athlete, but it’s hard to put it all together. You have to be able to function on and off the field. That was tough for him because he also had his two girls that made it complicated for him here.”

This story was originally published July 8, 2016 at 5:58 PM with the headline "Former Golden Valley football player Javiya Evans slain in Oakland."