On October 11, 2020, officers responded to a shooting at the Red Roof Inn in Knoxville. At the scene, officers located one victim, John Townsend, who had died in a motel room, and another victim, a motel employee, in critical condition in the breezeway of the motel. Officers interviewed witnesses, collected evidence, and reviewed the security camera footage from the motel. On surveillance video, officers could see four individuals exit a truck in the motel parking lot. Three of the individuals, one of whom was identified as Davis, went to a second-floor motel room rented by Townsend in order to rob him. Once in the room, the defendants shot Townsend. Davis and the two others ran from the scene and encountered a hotel employee in the breezeway. Davis shot the employee once in the chest before continuing to flee.

“We will continue to aggressively prosecute gun violence in order to take shooters off the streets and make our community safe,” said DA Charme Allen.

Life in prison in Tennessee means that Davis must serve fifty-one years in prison before he is eligible for parole. The additional fifteen years ordered today must be served after Davis has served the life sentence.