A weapons deal gone wrong culminated in the death of Tanner Crowley and now, nine months later, the arrest of 18-year-old Willie Davis.
Davis will remain in Lee County Jail without bond for his alleged involvement in the death of Crowley, who was killed June 17, 2017, in Harlem Heights. He was arrested Tuesday and had his first appearance in front of a judge Wednesday afternoon.
Davis lives in Harlem Heights and, in a recent arrest report, is described by authorities as “a member of the violent street hybrid gang Harlem Heights Boys.”
He remained quiet as he heard the evidence against him. His family members, including his mother and grandmother, were in court but declined to comment.
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Davis was arrested on a warrant that was not made available on Wednesday.
Not much was known about what transpired at the Lago Del Sol apartments where Crowley was shot, but details of the crime and investigation were revealed during the first appearance.
A detective from the Lee County Sheriff’s Office testified that Davis admitted during a post-Miranda interview he was there when Crowley was killed.
Davis, who was injured in the incident, told authorities several changing stories, LSCO Det. Dean Rawlins said during the hearing.
At first, he said he was shot in the buttocks because he was walking out of an apartment when Crowley was shot.
But when Rawlins showed him the forensic evidence against him, Davis admitted a relative of his had set up a gun deal with Crowley. His relative, who The News-Press is not naming because he hasn’t been charged, arrived at Davis’ home with an AK-47 and waited.
Then the two of them walked to meet Crowley at the apartment complex.
Instead of a transaction, Davis told officers his relative pointed the AK-47 at Crowley.
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“Tanner Crowley said ‘what are you trying to do? Rob me,’ according to Davis, and showed he also had a firearm on his person,” Rawlins testified.
Then he was shot.
Crowley’s shooter took two of Crowley’s guns, Rawlins said.
Davis blamed the shooting on his relative, but Rawlins said forensic evidence pointed at Davis.
It’s unclear how Davis was injured, but blood matching Davis’ DNA was found on the staircase. Davis told Rawlins that Crowley never fired his gun.
“If you read the report, there is the victim’s blood at the top of the landing, but the assailant with the AK-47 and the camouflage jacket, the person who fired the fatal shots, was on the stairs,” said Assistant State Attorney Orion Wright. “That’s where the DNA matched blood says Willie Davis was.”
Authorities also have a witness identifying the shooter by the clothes they wore — a camouflage jacket — and a second witness identifying Davis as the one wearing the camouflage jacket, Wright said.
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Davis’ defense attorney Dan Hanuka said the blood found could have been from Davis fleeing from the scene.
“It doesn’t actually make him the shooter,” said Hanuka, who declined to comment after the hearing. “Just being at the scene is not enough to get him responsible as the shooter.”
At the time of his arrest, Davis was out on bond from an arrest this month on cocaine charges after LCSO began to monitor his home. But besides that, he had no prior criminal record and is a life-long resident of Lee County.
Judge James R. Adams declined to give him bond.
Attempts to reach Crowley’s family for comment were unsuccessful.