Gary Dion Davis, Sr. was charged with two recent Kansas City, Kansas, cold cases — Christina King, found dead on Christmas Day 1998, and Pearl Davis, who was killed on Nov. 22, 1996. The cases were solved thanks to a DNA match. (Wyandotte County Jail)
Kansas City, Kansas, police announced on Wednesday that they nabbed the man who allegedly killed two women in the late 1990s, thanks to DNA evidence.
Gary Dion Davis, Sr. is facing two counts of second-degree murder in the deaths of Christina King and Pearl Davis, Wyandotte County District Attorney Mark Dupree said at a press conference.
King was found dead behind an abandoned building on Christmas Day 1998, while Pearl Davis was discovered dead inside a home on Nov. 22, 1996, Dupree said. He did not release details such as motive and cause of death but said the victims did not know their killer.
Investigators are now trying to determine if Davis killed others either in the Kansas City area or in another part of the nation as the suspect worked as a long-haul trucker, said Kansas City Police Chief Karl Oakman.
“In my experience, based on him killing two women, most likely he’s killed more,” he said.
Oakman said he started a cold case unit last year in hopes of solving murders as far back as 50 or 60 years ago. He wants the killers who have gotten away with their crimes for decades to be on edge.
“It may not be today, it may not be tomorrow, in fact, it may not be this year,” he said. “You may be in the drive-thru line, you may be at the grocery store, we’re going to eventually get you because Mr. Davis went on with his normal life like nothing happened.”
Davis faces a life sentence if convicted.
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“These charges demonstrate justice is possible no matter how much time has elapsed,” Dupree said.
Several family members of the victims attended the press conference though they didn’t speak. Arvetta Davis, Pearl Davis’ niece, told KHSB afterward that she is still processing her death. Pearl Davis left behind two daughters.
“I don’t even know why he came across her path,” Davis said. “My aunt sewed, she had a transportation business running people up to Chillicothe correctional, she worked as an SRS driver, she had a daycare, she sold dinners, she sold bean pies, she was involved in her family lives, she did it all.”
Oakman said the unit has identified suspects in 11 cases, including one from 1976 where an infant, known as Baby Girl Jane Doe, was found dead wrapped in a plastic bag and towels inside a dumpster.
An autopsy determined the baby was killed shortly after birth. Through DNA, investigators identified the mother who is now in her 60s. Oakman said she told detectives her grandmother took the baby from her after birth and she never saw the child again.
Investigators believe the grandmother, who has since died, killed the baby. There was no probable cause to arrest the mother, Oakman said.
“She was 18 at the time and also a victim,” he said.
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