Inset: Travis Davison (Shelby County Sheriff’s Office). Background: The Camaro that Travis Davison allegedly set on fire with his wife inside (WREG/YouTube).
A Tennessee man is charged with attempted murder for allegedly getting someone he knows to set his wife’s Chevrolet Camaro on fire while she was sitting inside — telling them, “light that b— up!” as he coached and cheered the accomplice over the phone, cops say.
Travis Davison, 44, of Memphis, is accused of trying to kill his wife on July 30 in the 800 block of South Second Street, according to his arrest affidavit obtained by Law&Crime.
Police say he and an extramarital girlfriend of his, Jessica Rios, 39, were talking to the alleged fire starter — who has not been identified or caught — over the phone as they “poured gasoline” on the wife’s Camaro and set it ablaze that Thursday night.
Cellphone video obtained by local CBS affiliate WREG showed the muscle car on fire after the wife managed to make it out of the vehicle unharmed. A neighbor who captured the footage spoke to the outlet, asking to remain anonymous, and said she witnessed the entire aftermath, as did her daughter.
“My daughter and I jumped out of our car, and she was like, ‘somebody call 911,'” the woman recalled. “Police were here before the fire department, and I heard her saying something about her husband.”
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According to the affidavit, Davison was “extremely loud” as he allegedly directed his accomplice to his wife’s vehicle, where she was sitting. Rios could also allegedly be heard by the victim, who spoke to cops afterward, giving out instructions as well.
“The silver Camaro,” Rios allegedly said, with it being the “only silver Camaro on the street,” according to the affidavit. The accomplice allegedly pulled up that night in an SUV with several other individuals who were in a BMW and a “gold sedan,” per cops.
“Under the directions from the male and female voices from the BMW, the male that exited the silver SUV walked to [the wife’s] vehicle and poured gasoline on her Camaro from the front to the back, while [the wife] was sitting inside,” the affidavit says. The wife “realized her vehicle was being set on fire” and “crawled out the passenger window.” Police say if she had not quickly gotten out of the car, she could have easily been killed.
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Police say that the person who poured the gasoline and set the wife’s car ablaze made eye contact with her before fleeing with the others. The wife told cops that it appeared the people were all communicating through Bluetooth phone calls through their vehicles’ stereo systems.
“The occupants … all made verbal acknowledgement of seeing [the wife] as they announced they saw [her],” the affidavit says. “All parties could have stopped the offense to preserve [the wife’s] life. Instead, the actions continued and the person then lit the vehicle on fire as [the wife] was crawling out.”
The wife told cops that she and Davison had been married for nearly six years before the attack occurred. He has been charged with attempted second-degree murder and attempted reckless endangerment with a deadly weapon. Rios is also charged with attempted murder.
