In the quiet city of Mount Pleasant, Michigan, a a heartbreaking event unfolded on March 2, 2018, forever altering the lives of the Davis family. Diva Davis, a 47-year-old Black/African American woman, and her husband, James Davis Sr., had traveled from their home in Plainfield, Illinois, to Central Michigan University to bring their son, James Eric Davis Jr., home for spring break.
The morning took a tragic turn when both Diva and her husband were fatally shot in their son's dormitory room.
The immediate aftermath of the shooting saw a campus in lockdown and a community in shock. The suspect was quickly identified as their 19-year-old son, who fled the scene, prompting an extensive manhunt involving over 100 law enforcement officers. He was apprehended later that evening near the campus. Reports from the night before the incident indicated that Davis Jr. had been exhibiting erratic behavior and had even approached campus police with fears that someone was trying to harm him.
Following his arrest, James Eric Davis Jr. was charged with two counts of open murder and felony firearms offenses. He entered a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity. The court ordered a psychiatric evaluation, and he was subsequently committed to a psychiatric facility after a judge determined he was mentally ill at the time of the killings. This decision meant that the case would not proceed to a trial. Investigators revealed that the weapon used in the shooting belonged to his father, a part-time police officer in Bellwood, Illinois. The tragic loss was deeply felt in their home community, where friends and neighbors remembered Diva and her husband as devoted parents.
