In the early morning hours of October 12, 2015, the quiet of a Royal Oak, Michigan neighborhood was shattered by the sound of arguing followed by a loud boom. Inside a home on North Altadena Avenue, 50-year-old Theresa Diamos had been shot. When police responded to a 911 call from neighbors around 3 a.m., they found Diamos gravely wounded. She was still breathing when officers arrived, but tragically, she was pronounced dead after being transported to a local hospital.
Her live-in
boyfriend, David Douglas Davis, was at the scene and initially tried to deceive investigators. He claimed that an intruder had broken into their home and shot Diamos. In response to his claim, the Oakland County Sheriff's Office SWAT team was dispatched to the residence, but a search of the house and surrounding area yielded no evidence of a third person being present. As the investigation progressed, Davis's story fell apart, and he quickly became the primary suspect.
Davis, who had a criminal history and had recently been released from prison after serving six years for a felony assault charge, was arrested at the scene. He was charged with first-degree premeditated murder, two counts of possession of a firearm in the commission of a felony, and being a felon in possession of a firearm. During his arraignment, a judge ordered him held without bond.
After a two-week trial, a jury convicted David Douglas Davis on all charges. The evidence presented painted a clear picture of a domestic dispute that ended in tragedy. Neighbors had reported hearing the couple arguing before the fatal shot was fired. For the murder of Theresa Diamos, Davis was sentenced to a mandatory life sentence in prison without the possibility of parole. During the emotional sentencing hearing, Diamos's mother confronted her daughter's killer, expressing her profound grief but finding a small measure of solace in the knowledge that he would spend the rest of his life behind bars.
