Randy Malloyd Davis Jr., a 20-year-old Black/African American male from North St. Paul, Minnesota, was described by his family as a kind, funny, and witty young man with “the most beautiful smile.” He was the second of four children, and his life was cut short in the late summer of 2019.
On the morning of August 19, 2019, police in Saint Paul responded to frantic 911 calls reporting a shooting at a home on the 1000 block of Sims Avenue. Officers arrived around 10:30 a.m.
and found Davis inside a bedroom with a single gunshot wound to his chest. Paramedics transported him to Regions Hospital, where he died in surgery later that afternoon.
The investigation revealed that the house was an Airbnb that had been rented for a birthday party for Markeia Felicity Carlvin of Minneapolis, who was turning 20 that day. According to a witness who was present, Davis had brought two handguns to the residence. The witness stated that she, Davis, and Carlvin had been "playing" with the firearms and taking pictures with them.
The criminal complaint alleged that at one point, Carlvin picked up one of the guns, racked it, pointed it at Davis, and pulled the trigger. The single shot struck Davis in the chest. A witness told police Carlvin claimed the shooting was an accident before she fled the house through an upstairs back door. A neighbor’s camera captured footage of her leaving. Police arrested Carlvin at 9:30 p.m. that evening in Crystal, Minnesota, on suspicion of homicide. She was later charged with second-degree manslaughter.
In April 2021, Markeia Carlvin pleaded guilty to the charge. At her sentencing in July 2021, Davis’s family members read tearful statements about the trauma his death had caused. His older sister, Tanaya Young, said, “When I visualize my brother, I see him laying there calling out for his mom with his last breath with no one there to help him.” Carlvin, who was pregnant at the time, offered an apology to the family. The judge denied a request for leniency and sentenced her to three years in prison.
