Phillip Lamar Davis was a 47-year-old Black/African American male and disabled military veteran who was killed in a carefully planned early-morning ambush at his home near Stone Mountain, Georgia, on September 1, 2017. Later reporting would reveal that what initially appeared to investigators and the public to be a violent home invasion was believed by authorities to have been a targeted killing, with prosecutors describing one of the men involved as a hired “hitman.”
The attack
occurred at approximately 6:00 a.m. at Davis’s home on Mountain Oaks Parkway in DeKalb County. According to investigators, surveillance cameras captured several men arriving in a vehicle, getting out and moving to the side of the residence, where they waited. The men were dressed in black military-style clothing and wore masks, and authorities said at least one was armed with an AR-15-style rifle.
Davis and his wife were preparing to leave the residence when the garage door opened and the waiting men moved toward them. Davis immediately fought back. Surveillance footage described in later arrest warrants showed him struggling with one of the attackers while another gunman opened fire. Even after being shot, Davis reportedly continued fighting in an effort to protect himself and his wife.
Investigators ultimately alleged that Jose Luis Marquez-Colon was the man who shot Davis in the abdomen during the confrontation. Davis and his wife managed to retreat into the house and call 911. Marquez-Colon, apparently unable to get inside after them, was captured by the home's surveillance system removing his mask. According to the warrant, his face could be clearly seen as he looked around outside the residence and kicked at a door.
The masked attackers fled, and the case was initially reported as an attempted home invasion in which nothing had been taken. Police brought K-9 units into the neighborhood and searched for the men, but no immediate arrests were announced. The circumstances surrounding the attack began to look significantly different as investigators developed additional information in the days and months that followed.
A few days after Davis was killed, authorities received an anonymous tip indicating that the shooting had actually been a contracted killing. According to warrants later obtained in the case, investigators were told that Marquez-Colon had agreed to kill Davis in connection with an alleged unpaid drug debt. Authorities alleged that the men had not simply encountered Davis during a random burglary but had gone to the residence specifically intending to confront and kill him.
Investigators began working to identify the masked attackers through the surveillance footage and other evidence. Police located a Facebook page belonging to Marquez-Colon and discovered a photograph in which he appeared to be wearing the same type of jacket seen on the man captured by Davis’s security cameras. Investigators also reportedly recovered tactical equipment from Marquez-Colon’s residence, further strengthening their belief that he had participated in the ambush.
Davis's family challenged the allegation that he was involved with drugs or owed a drug-related debt. His sister said she had never known him to use drugs and expressed disbelief at the theory being presented in the warrants. Prosecutors nevertheless continued to pursue the case based on the physical evidence, surveillance footage, phone records, and other information gathered during the investigation. Later reporting stated that investigators found a large quantity of fentanyl at Davis’s residence and that prosecutors believed money associated with drugs was behind the attack.
In December 2017, DeKalb County authorities arrested Marquez-Colon, then 32 and living in Snellville, and charged him with murder in connection with Davis’s death. At the time of his arrest he was held in the DeKalb County jail without bond. The arrest marked a major development in a case that had initially begun with police searching for unidentified masked home invaders.
The prosecution was eventually assigned to the DeKalb County District Attorney’s Major Case Unit. Prosecutors conducted additional investigative work, including an examination of Marquez-Colon’s telephone records. That work helped authorities identify other people believed to have been involved in the crime. According to the district attorney’s office, two additional defendants connected to the case eventually entered guilty pleas.
Marquez-Colon’s case was scheduled to go to trial in April 2019, but instead of proceeding before a jury, he chose to plead guilty. He entered guilty pleas to voluntary manslaughter and aggravated assault for his role in the shooting death of Davis. The court sentenced him to a total of 40 years, with 30 years to be served in prison.
Prosecutors said they had accumulated substantial evidence against Marquez-Colon and viewed the lengthy negotiated sentence as a significant result. The evidence included the surveillance recording of the ambush, the moment Marquez-Colon allegedly removed his mask, evidence recovered during the investigation, and telephone records used to connect additional participants to the crime.
The investigation extended beyond Marquez-Colon. Prosecutors reported that two other defendants identified through the investigation also pleaded guilty for their involvement. Authorities additionally said that another suspect had been indicted but remained a fugitive. Investigators had tracked that individual as far as an airport in Miami and believed he had subsequently fled to the Dominican Republic.
What first appeared on the morning of September 1, 2017 to be a home invasion that unexpectedly turned deadly was eventually portrayed by investigators and prosecutors as an organized ambush. Davis fought back when armed, masked men descended on his home, but he was fatally wounded during the struggle. The subsequent investigation led authorities to Marquez-Colon, evidence of planning and coordination among multiple people, guilty pleas by several defendants, and a 40-year sentence for the man prosecutors identified as the gunman who killed Davis.
