Baton Rouge woman reflects on grandson’s death three years later

BATON ROUGE, La. (Louisiana First) — Wednesday marks the third anniversary of 3-year-old Devin Page Jr.’s murder. As the toddler’s death has made a major impact locally and nationally in the last few years, a suspected shooter has not been identified by authorities.

Cathy Toliver remembers her grandson as a child who loved horses, trucks and strawberries. “‘Grammy, can I have your strawberries?'” Toliver said Page would ask. “He loved strawberries.”

Late in the evening of April 13, 2022, Toliver said she had a FaceTime conversation with the boy she called “Juju.” They’d made plans for the next day.

“He said, ‘Okay, Grammy. I love you!” Toliver said. “I said, ‘I love you, too.’ And we hung up the phone.”

Around an hour later, her phone rang again. This time, her daughter was on the line, telling her about Page’s death. Page and his 1-year-old sister had been asleep side by side in their crib on Fairfields Avenue. The peaceful image was tainted by a bullet intended for the house next door. The bullet killed Page instantly.

Three years later, police still haven’t made any arrests.

“No updates at this time,” Baton Rouge Police Department spokesperson Sgt. L’Jean McKneely said. “It’s still an ongoing investigation. We just had a ‘Victims of Violence’ balloon release.”

Toliver said Page’s death lit a fire that’s still burning. She’s keeping his story alive in East Baton Rouge Parish, which now has “Devin’s Law.” It encourages landlords to install security cameras and make their properties safer.

“It’s for people who were in the same situation my daughter was in,” Toliver said.

She’s taken Page’s story more than 1,000 miles away to Washington, D.C., meeting with former Vice President Kamala Harris about advocating against gun violence.

Page’s death led Toliver on a new path in life, making her “bolder” than ever. She said these three years have been much harder on her daughter, Tye Toliver, who’s still in disbelief over her son’s murder.

She said she’d warned her landlord about the violence in the area earlier that day, and she’d been working to move. The murder sent her on a self-destructive path. The loss of her son was too much to handle, causing her to avoid feelings. When the flashbacks hit, Tye is now allowing herself to experience them instead of numbing herself to the pain.

“That’s playing over and over in my head more now than it did when everything was fresh,” Tye said.

Without a suspect being named, Cathy said she has issues trusting people she meets in the community. She wonders whether they could be the person who shot Page. But her daughter finally starting to open up is something she considers a blessing.

“It’s good to have a support system that helps on a day-to-day basis to help me get through the day,” Tye said.

Cathy and Tye have relied on each other to get through these three years. They’ll be forever impacted by a life stolen before it could really start.

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