On the evening of October 19, 1984, Brian Leigh Davis, a 24-year-old White male, attended a party in the 700 block of East First Street in Tucson, Arizona. The gathering grew increasingly boisterous as the day progressed. At some point, Davis became involved in an argument with an unknown man who was described as a party crasher. The altercation escalated, and the unidentified man tragically pulled out a gun and shot Davis once in the head, the bullet entering through his right eye.
Immediately following the shooting, the suspect fled the scene, escaping on a stolen ten-speed bicycle. Witnesses at the party, numbering over two dozen, described the gunman as a white male, approximately 25 to 30 years old, standing about 5 feet 8 inches tall and weighing between 150 and 160 pounds. He had dark hair, an unkempt beard and mustache, and was wearing dark clothing. One witness reported seeing the assailant fumble and drop the weapon while fleeing before retrieving it and continuing his escape. Brian Leigh Davis was rushed to the University of Arizona Medical Center, where he succumbed to his injury and was pronounced dead the following morning. The murder weapon was never recovered by law enforcement.
In the years that followed, the investigation into Brian Leigh Davis's murder grew cold, becoming one of the oldest unsolved cases in the Tucson Police Department's files. No arrests have ever been made, and no suspects have been publicly identified beyond the initial description. Davis's family has spoken about his struggles with schizophrenia in the years leading up to his death, and their unsuccessful attempts to get him help for his mental health issues. One witness reported overhearing a conversation at a nearby boarding house on the night of the murder, suggesting that someone had paid to have Davis killed, though this lead has not resulted in any public developments in the case. The case remains an open and unsolved homicide.
