Hero of the Year nominee

Davonte Witherspoon had made it out alive onto the Cecil Avenue sidewalk, free of the fire ravaging his brick-front rowhouse. That's when the 13-year- old boy, standing amid thick smoke and underneath flames that licked the morning sky, remembered who was still inside.

"My brother!" he said, according to a witness. "My nephew!"

Davonte had to go back in. Later this would not be surprising to anyone who knew the family. Davonte's brother, Tashon Thomas, 16, had muscular dystrophy and was in a wheelchair. The boys were devoted to each other. It was Davonte who carried Tashon up the stairs at night and Davonte who bathed him when their mother, Deneen Thomas, could not.