A judge found substantial probability Friday in the case against Davon Davis, 23, who is accused of stabbing his uncle to death on November 17. He is suspected of second-degree murder.
Davis’s attorney argued that the 23-year-old acted in self-defense.
James Byron Davis, 53, was found suffering from multiple stabs wounds in the 5000 block of Just Street Northeast. He died at a local hospital.
MPD Detective Anthony Paci testified Friday that the uncle’s sister told police she and her brother had an argument the night he died. She said her brother accused her of moving a table “with her mind,” Paci told the court. He added: “She told me her brother was a paranoid schizophrenic.”
Paci said James Davis had been carrying a knife all day. During the argument with his sister, he choked her before she “slapped his hand away.”
She went to check on her younger son, the woman told police. At some point, she heard her older son (Davon Davis) and her brother arguing and saw them struggling over a knife.
Charging documents say that Davis’ mother tried to break up the fight, but the two Davis’ began punching each other.
“The decedent and Defendant backed away from one another and the decedent fell to the floor, and [she] saw the Defendant with the knife in his hand,” the police report says. Davon Davis placed the knife in a sink, and his mother called 911.
“We don’t know how the fight began, but we know how it ended,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Spence said. Spence argued that Davis’ uncle suffered from over 20 stab wounds, including six to his back.
Paci said Davis had “40 stab wounds” and his ear and finger were “almost severed off.”
Defense attorney Craig Hickein argued that it’s up to the government to prove that his client wasn’t acting in self-defense.
“No evidence shows that my client used any force that wasn’t necessary,” Hickein said. “The government can’t use the number of stab wounds to disprove self-defense.”
According to Detective Paci, the mother’s 12-year-old son witnessed Davon Davis stabbing their uncle, saying “get that motherf—.”
Davis is scheduled for a felony status conference on February 13, 2015 at 11:00 a.m. before Judge Russell Canan.
