Gary Christopher “Chris” Davis, a 47-year-old White/Caucasian man, was killed on the night of August 27, 2014, inside the Grafton, West Virginia, home he shared with his wife. Davis had been born in Gastonia, North Carolina, and later made his home in Grafton, where he worked for himself in construction. He had been married to Tuesday Sue Allen Davis since March 24, 1989, and the couple had three children.
Those who knew him remembered his devotion to his family, particularly his grandchildren, as well as his enjoyment of classic cars, rock music, fishing, hunting, video games and the outdoors.
The events that ended his life unfolded at the Briarcliff Apartments on Baltimore Street in Grafton. At approximately 9:46 p.m., police were dispatched to the apartment after a shooting was reported. Officers arrived to find Davis suffering from a gunshot wound to the abdomen. He died at the scene. Investigators subsequently alleged that the shooting occurred during a domestic dispute between Davis and his wife.
Tuesday Sue Davis was identified by investigators as the person responsible for the shooting. According to testimony later given by Grafton Police Lt. D.T. Holcomb, she was at the apartment when police arrived and took responsibility for shooting her husband. Authorities alleged that a. 45-caliber handgun was used. Police did not describe the shooting as an attack by an unknown intruder or suggest that another gunman was being sought; the investigation focused immediately on Davis's wife and the circumstances of the domestic confrontation.
Tuesday Sue Davis was arrested following the shooting and charged with first-degree murder. She was taken to the Tygart Valley Regional Jail. Grafton police initially said the investigation remained active, with assistance from the Taylor County Sheriff's Department and the West Virginia State Police as investigators worked to establish exactly what had occurred inside the residence.
The case moved into court the following month. During a preliminary hearing in September 2014, Taylor County Prosecutor John Bord presented testimony from Lt. Holcomb concerning the scene, the fatal abdominal wound and Tuesday Davis's alleged admission that she had fired the weapon. Taylor County Magistrate Leonard Lucas determined that prosecutors had established probable cause for the murder charge, allowing the case to proceed to Taylor County Circuit Court. Following that hearing, Tuesday Davis remained incarcerated without bond while represented by attorneys Dennis Kittle and Roger Curry.
The available online reporting documents the arrest, first-degree murder charge and probable-cause determination against Tuesday Sue Davis, but reliable publicly accessible sources located for the case do not clearly establish a subsequent trial verdict, guilty plea, dismissal or final sentence. What is firmly documented is that Gary Davis's death was treated as a homicide arising from a domestic dispute, that his wife was arrested almost immediately afterward, and that a magistrate later found sufficient evidence for the murder prosecution to continue in circuit court.
