In the early morning hours of December 18, 1984, Nicholas Nor Davis, a 39-year-old Caucasian male and a seven-year veteran of the Seattle Police Department, had just finished his breakfast at the International House of Pancakes on East Madison Street. As he was leaving, the manager alerted him to a patron who had just left without paying his $4.55 bill.
Officer Davis, in his patrol car, was accompanied by a restaurant employee as he went to find the man.
They soon located Michael Robert Trott, an unemployed drifter, in a nearby parking lot at the intersection of 10th Avenue and East Madison Street. From his vehicle, Davis ordered Trott to stop. When Trott began to walk away, Davis put his car in reverse to follow, all the while calling for backup on his radio. In a sudden and violent turn of events, Trott attacked Officer Davis as he was getting out of his patrol car. Trott managed to pull Davis from the vehicle, and during the ensuing struggle, he gained control of the officer's service weapon.
As Officer Davis stood up from the ground, Trott shot him once in the chest and then again in the back as he tried to seek cover. Trott then fled the scene with the officer's handgun. He was apprehended a short time later inside a nearby building after he had entered the women's restroom and disposed of the weapon. Officer Davis was rushed to Harborview Medical Center, where he succumbed to his injuries.
Michael Robert Trott was arrested and subsequently convicted of second-degree murder, receiving a sentence of 27 years. However, due to a diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia, he was committed to a mental hospital instead of serving his sentence in prison. In a controversial decision, Trott was released from the mental hospital in April 2011 due to budget cuts. Nicholas Davis was survived by his wife and three sons.
