| “ | If I'm caught in the street, the police are going to shoot me. But I am going to shoot them first. | ” |
— Davis to his sister Regina Lewis during the armed standoff
| ||
Larry Davis, Jr. is a suspected serial killer and mass murderer of drug dealers in New York City. Davis is widely recognized for the shootings and injuries of six NYPD police officers who were arriving to arrest Davis, which ended in his highly controversial acquittal. Davis, even after his eventual murder conviction and death in prison, remains an anti-police folk hero.
Background[]
Davis was born on May 28, 1966, in Newberry, South Carolina. He had somewhere between 12 and 18 siblings, his family collectively moving to the Bronx to live in Woodycrest Avenue, not far from Yankee Stadium. Davis' father, Larry Davis, Sr., walked out on the family when Davis was 10. Davis had a musical talent spanning multiple instruments, as well as modified an repaired motorbikes professionally. Aspiring to make it big in the hip hop industry, Davis operated studios from the Bronx to Manhattan. Davis was reported to eventually gain a hatred for drug cultures, as one of his sisters suffered an addiction, and he blamed his girlfriend's abuse of crack for the miscarriage of their child. Another girlfriend of Davis', Melody Fludd, gave birth to Davis' only child, a daughter named Larrima, in 1986.
Criminal History[]
Davis had stopped being involved in drug dealing after his up-close exposure to how it hurt the women he loved. However, his arrest record is as early as 1980, which included property crimes, assaults with deadly weapons, and illegal possessions of firearms. Davis' nephew brian attested he once saw Davis torture a Chihuahua to death, then cook the dog on a skillet. Accounts that remain contested to this day say that at the age of 15, Davis was recruited by dirty NYPD cops to distribute drugs, having gained influence by establishing his own network in a smaller chapter. However, when Davis was withholding proceeds, the same cops were hassling him and his family more. The Bronx District Attorney's office publicized their connections between Davis and series of robberies, attacks, and homicides of drug dealers in the Bronx and northern Manhattan. Many believe Davis' motives were to get back at drug industries for the addictions of his sister and girlfriend, but the justice system targeting Davis has long stuck to the argument Davis was still dealing and committed the crimes to eliminate the competition. The murders all happened in 1986, Raymond Vizcaino being shot on August 5, Victor LaGromba being shot on September 16. Ballistics of a gun on Davis' person during his arrest matched an apartment massacre on October 30, killing Angel Castro, Juan Rodriguez, Jesus Perez, and Hector Figueroa Hernandez by execution-style shootings. At the end of October 1986, Davis robbed street dealer Roy L. Gray and made off with two accomplices, but when police chased after the group with Gray in a cruiser, Davis and the other robbers fired warning shots at the cops and escaped.
As Davis lived with his sister and her family in Morrisania, they arrived at her apartment in the beginning of November with a warrant for his arrest. As he wasn't there, they left. Reports say a tip led to the dispatch, which would send police back to the apartment on the evening of November 19, twenty-seven cops in total from both the 41st Precinct and Emergency Services Unit. When nine officers entered the building, while the remaining officers surrounded the building to secure it, shots were fired. It's still contested today of Davis or the police fired their weapons first, and it's regarded as more outrageous the accounts that Davis used children in the apartment as human shields. After the gunfire stopped, six officers were shot and severely wounded, taken straight to Bronx-Lebanon, Lincoln, and Bellevue hospitals, where they were resuscitated and treated. Continuously argumentative accounts between police, including the officers wounded at the scene, disagreed on how secure the perimeter was and how rapid and aggressive the entry of officers into the apartment was. Little other details have been, but it's agreed that Davis escaped out a back window amidst the crisis.
A manhunt instantaneously ensued, with stakeouts and checkpoints assembled all over the city. Police raids were carried out in multiple urban cities where Davis had family and friends. ABC News reported Davis called them, stating he feared police brutality and refusing to be arrested. Davis' mother Mary, whose home was searched on a tip while police questioned her, had a heart attack and, when she recovered three days later, implored Davis to work with NAACP for a peaceful surrender. On December 5, police went to Davis' sister Margaret's apartment building on a tip he was there, canvassing the entire building. Davis took hostages in Apartment 14-EB, where Elroy and Sophia Sewers lived with their daughters and Theresa Ali was there with her young son. Elroy wasn't home at the time, but when he arrived back, Davis agreed to release the Alis. He made Elroy bring Chinese food to the apartment, as well as lie to Davis' mother and sister about his whereabouts. Police stopped Elroy while he was out, and they responded to the building in full force, down to a command post. Exhausted and paranoid, Davis went from negotiating for escape routes to death threats against the hostages, especially when police assembled due to Davis' fugitive status for shooting their colleagues. Sophia tried to commiserate with Davis, encouraging if he were afraid of police brutality, he could even make a tape of his account in case he died in the standoff. By the time Davis was encouraged from seeing credentials of three police reporters who arrived to assure Davis they'd be witnesses, Davis peacefully surrendered to arrest. Reactions were mixed, from police being openly outraged against Davis to neighbors cheering him on. While Davis was incarcerated, he ripped out his cell's sink, set his mattress on fire, and stabbed a guard with a pen. He went to Elmhurst General for alleged emergencies there were no evidence of, including swallowing dozens of pills and glass and razor blades in his meals. His protests were so overwhelming, the guards ensured Davis was constantly on camera and didn't even force him to wear a jumpsuit all the time. Davis would also report to the news accounts such as an inmate defecating on him and Davis' idea of killing a man resembling him while he was on the run to distract and evade police. Aside from all that, Davis converted to Islam, taking the name Adam Abdul-Hakeem.
Davis in custody
Davis had four separate trials arranged for him over the next two years. The first was for the apartment massacre, then the shootings of police, both in 1988. It was then followed by a 1989 trial for the murder of LaGromba, then in 1991 for the murder of Vizcaino. Celebrity and civil rights attorneys William Kunstler and Lynne Stewart defended Davis through every trial. Davis' defense was he was framed by dirty cops wanting to cover up their own crimes, the raids and subsequent manhunt arranged to try and kill Davis to silence him. Davis was acquitted of the massacre in the first trial, with the longest deliberation for a criminal case in the Bronx at the time. In the second trial, for the shootings of police, two mistrials were declared, until a final verdict came in the third time: Davis was only convicted of six counts of criminal weapons possession and sentence to 5 to 15 years imprisonment. Mary herself had testified a cop shoved her and threatened Davis' life, which she reported to the Civilian Complaint Board. Hundreds of officers demonstrated against the verdict, protesting injustice for the wounded officers. Davis was also acquitted of LaGromba's murder. However, in separate trials, Davis and his brother Eddie were convicted of Vizcaino's murder. Davis was sentenced to 25 years to life imprisonment, which he protested during the sentencing phase.
Death and Publicity[]
Newspapers constantly tracked the attention Davis received from his case. Even Harlem-born autobiographer Claude Brown provided his own commentary, recounting police killings of black Americans in New York City without penalties. Direct connections were associated between the crack epidemic and the increase of robberies and homicides in New York City, and it's believed sentiment against substance abuse was a weighing factor in the publicity of the case and even the verdicts of the juries, as all the murder victims were tied to drugs. A direct-to-DVD documentary, The Larry Davis Story, was released in 2003.
The Larry Davis Story DVD cover
On February 20, 2008, Davis was repeatedly shanked in the prison yard of Shawangunk Correctional. He attempted to protect himself with his cane, but he died from the extent of his wounds, and from the infirmary he was originally placed in hot having the equipment to resuscitate him. Luis "Blue Boy" Rosado, a former Manhattan-based member of the Crips, pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter and was sentenced to ten years imprisonment, consecutively served with his 25 to life sentence for murder and assault in the 1980s. Rosado was paroled in 2021, and in an interview with VladTV posted on YouTube, Rosado stated Davis was in the way when Rosado actually tried to kill a child sex offender instead.
Modus Operandi[]
Davis was reported to have originally targeted drug dealers across multiple New York City boroughs. With the assistance of accomplices, either in the course of robberies or attempted robberies, the victims would be shot, either in their apartments, outside their doors, and even in the streets. Three of the victims of the apartment massacre were also forced to strip off their clothes before they were murdered, their shootings all being execution-style. During the fateful police raid, Davis fired multiple shots at officers entering the apartment, severely injuring most of them with shotgun and a pistol, before finding a back window to escape out of. Days after he fled, Davis found some families with children and took them hostage in his apartment, negotiating for the presence of the media during his arrest, food deliveries, and attempts at escape routes which failed, all relayed by some of the hostages when they gained his trust.
Known Victims[]
The following list consists of the crimes associated with Davis, in spite of his only conviction being of murdering Raymond Vizcaino
- New York, USA
- 1980:
- Suffolk County: Victimless grand larceny
- The Bronx, New York City: Victimless property crime
- New York City:
- 1984:
- Three unspecified crimes
- Victimless robbery
- 1986:
- August 5, Webster Avenue, The Bronx: Raymond Vizcaino (shot through his front door)
- September 16, West 156th Street, Harlem, Manhattan: Victor LaGromba (shot)
- Unidentified victim (assaulted; shot with a shotgun)
- October 26, Harlem, The Bronx: Roy L. Gray (assaulted and robbed of $2)
- October 30, The Bronx:
- 829 Southern Boulevard: The apartment massacre (robbed, stripped, and shot execution style)
- Angel Castro
- Juan Rodriguez
- Jesus Perez
- Hector Figueroa Hernandez
- The high-speed chase (assaulted; shot at):
- Roy L. Gray
- Two unnamed policemen
- 829 Southern Boulevard: The apartment massacre (robbed, stripped, and shot execution style)
- November 19, 1986, Fulton Avenue, Morrisania, The Bronx: The police shootout: (all attempted, but survived)
- Officer Mary Ellen Buckley (shot in her face)
- Officer John O'Hara (shot in his eye with buckshot)
- Officer Thomas McCarren (shot in his jaw)
- Sergeant Coulter (shot)
- Two unidentified officers (shot)
- Detective Donald O'Sullivan (shot at; missed)
- Two unidentified officers (shot at; missed)
- December 5, 183rd Street, The Bronx: The Twin Parks West hostage crisis: (all held hostage at gunpoint; were eventually released)
- Sophia Sewers
- Sophia's unidentified daughters
- Theresa Ali
- Theresa's unidentified son, 2
- Unspecified date: Unidentified guard (stabbed in his forehead with a ballpoint pen)
- 1984:
- 1980:
On Criminal Minds[]
- Season Four
- "Brothers in Arms" - While never directly mentioned or referenced in the franchise, Davis appears to be the inspiration for the episode's unsub, Animal - Both are serial killers (suspected in Davis' case) with ties to street and organized crime, their first victims were gangsters, they escalated to shooting police officers in ambushes, were the subjects of high-profile manhunts, received significant media attention, were arrested in police stings, and were murdered by other gangsters.
On Evolution[]
- While never directly mentioned or referenced in the franchise, Davis appears to be an inspiration for the show's main unsub, Elias Voit - Both are serial killers (suspected in Davis' case) with careers involving technology specialties, operated in organized crime networks with accomplices, injured and attempted to kill law enforcement officers once they were to be arrested, defended themselves by arguing the police were corrupt, got their sentences significantly reduced as a consequence of their defenses, received nationwide media attention, and were shanked to death in prison.