According to Kansas City Police Chief Karl Oakman, a truck driver allegedly killed two women in the 1990s and “went on with his life as if nothing had happened.” Oakman believes those were not the offender’s only victims.
On September 15, Gary Dion Davis Sr., 52, was taken into custody and charged with two charges of second-degree murder in connection with the murders of Christina King and Pearl Davis, also known as Sameemah Musawwir, in 1998 and 1996, respectively.
In a press conference to announce Davis Sr.’s arrest, Wyandotte County District Attorney Mark Dupree stated that King was 26 when she was discovered beaten to death behind an abandoned building on Christmas Day 1998.
According to Dupree, two years prior, in November 1996, Pearl Davis’ body was discovered in a deserted home after she had been stabbed to death. He added that detectives do not think Davis Sr. knew either lady.
“DNA evidence from both murder scenes match the known DNA profile of Gary Dion Davis,” Dupree said. “These charges demonstrate justice is possible no matter how much time has elapsed.”
If found guilty, the maximum sentence for each murder charge is life in prison, according to Dupree.
He is being jailed in the Wyandotte County Detention Centre in northwest Missouri on a $500,000 bail and does not have a listed attorney.
Davis Sr. was a truck driver who lived in the neighbourhood of Kansas City, Kansas. He was requested to come in to talk about the unsolved cases, according to the police, “at which time he was placed under arrest.”
Officially, he is accused with two killings, but Oakman thinks there may be more victims.
“We’ve taken a dangerous individual off the street,” Oakman said. “In my experience, based on him killing two women, most likely he’s killed more.”
The niece of Pearl Davis, Arnetta Davis, attended the news conference on Wednesday while sobbing. Two children were left behind by Pearl Davis, and according to Arnetta Davis, they are all still processing what has happened.
“Today after 27 years the punk who killed my aunt has been arrested,” she posted on Facebook. “This is just the beginning. He is a serial killer. He was an over-the-road truck driver for years.”
Christina Parks, who was 10 years old when her mother died, stated in a 2021 interview with Fox 4 Kansas City that she wanted to know who did it and why. At the time, the local news station was covering a vigil to bring attention to the case, which at the time seemed to have no resolution.
“How could they do that to such a young person? She was only 26,” Parks said in 2021. “And like, her autopsy there were so many injuries and so many abrasions and bruises. I just don’t understand what she could have done that bad to deserve that.”
Backlogged Cold Cases
With the revelation of Davis Sr.’s arrest on Wednesday, two cold cases were closed, but there is still a “significant” backlog of cases “going back five, six decades,” according to Oakman.
He established the cold case unit a little over a year ago, and it has thus far identified suspects in 11 instances. He said the unit will continue to work through the backlog beginning with the cases that have potential leads or suspects.
“It may not be today, it may not be tomorrow. In fact, it may not be this year, but there’s going to be a time when you’re in a drive-thru line or at the grocery store, and we’re going to eventually get you,” Oakman said.
