Danny Davis

The Crime

Shortly before 1 p.m. on March 12, 1992, the body of 63-year-old Mildred Smith was discovered on the floor of her kitchen in her apartment in the McBride Place public housing development in Cairo, Illinois. She had been stabbed or cut 38 times. Her apartment, where she ran a business well-known in the neighborhood for selling soda, snacks, candy, and cigarettes, was in disarray, indicating there had been a struggle, although it did not appear to be ransacked. Ms. Smith suffered defensive wounds on her arms. 

The police reports noted that robbery did not appear to be a motive. A red tackle box containing a large amount of money, a plastic bag containing more money, and a white bucket full of coins were in plain sight. 

There were no signs of forced entry. In the kitchen, the telephone had been knocked off its stand and was underneath Ms. Smith’s body. Cans of soda were strewn about the floor. The freezer door was ajar. A dried blood stain suggested she had been dragged. 

In the living room, the television was pulled away from the wall and another telephone was found on the floor with the handset off the base. 

Ms. Smith’s daughter said that a police scanner that had been on top of the television was missing. 

A forensic pathologist conducted an autopsy and concluded that all the wounds appeared to be made by the same knife. Moreover, the pathologist reported that the “location and direction of multiple knife wounds is consistent with a possible left-handed assailant.” Rigor mortis had set in, prompting police to believe the murder occurred the night before. 

The Investigation

A week later, a woman named Queen Ward, who lived across the alley from Ms. Smith, told police that she saw her neighbor, 18-year-old Isaac Davis, digging a hole in the backyard and dropping something into it. Three days later, on March 23, 1992, police went to the Davis home. They arrested Isaac Davis’ 20-year-old brother, Danny, on an outstanding arrest warrant for an unrelated theft. While there, the officers persuaded Isaac to accompany them to the police station. The police found nothing in the backyard. 

At the time, Mr. Davis had an IQ of 76 and had borderline cognitive functioning. The police told him they had evidence that he was involved in the murder, although there were no reports backing that assertion. Mr. Davis denied involvement. He said that the night of March 11, he had been out with friends and was in bed by 10 p.m. 

Police then began questioning Isaac, who also had cognitive difficulties. His IQ was in the same range. After the police told Isaac they had evidence he was involved in the crime, he said, “I didn’t kill her.” However, following further questioning, he implicated 22-year-old Devoe Johnson, saying that Mr.  Johnson had stabbed Ms. Smith while Isaac and Mr. Davis were present. Isaac said that Mr. Davis had buried the knife by a tree across the road from their home. 

Later that day, police returned to the Davis home with a search warrant. They recovered a police scanner, a red plastic pail filled with pennies, and two sacks with a large quantity of various brands of cigarettes. Police searched for the knife, but did not find it. The police would later claim that they matched the serial number of Ms. Smith’s scanner to the scanner they recovered, although there were no records documenting the actual serial number of Ms. Smith’s scanner. 

The police then questioned Mr. Johnson, who denied involvement and said he did not see either Mr. Davis or his brother on the night before the body was found. That same day, the police arrested all three men on charges of first-degree murder and armed robbery. 

After they were charged, the police interviewed Mr. Davis again. This time, his denials were met with threats of the death penalty and physical abuse. Mr. Davis later said that Police Chief Burl Pickett violently slammed Mr. Davis’ hand down on the table. Mr. Davis was fearful of Chief Pickett because of an incident when Mr. Davis was 11 years old. Chief Pickett had put a gun to Mr. Davis’ head and told him he could blow his brains out. After slamming Mr. Davis’ hand down, Chief Pickett told him that “if you don’t talk, your Black ass is still going to fry.” 

In the face of the threats and violence, and after he was told that Isaac had confessed and implicated him, Mr. Davis gave a statement. Chief Pickett then turned on the tape recorder. Mr. Davis would later say he was not given oral Miranda warnings and that he could not read written warnings because he did not know how to read. 

In the statement, Mr. Davis said that Mr. Johnson came to his home and suggested they go to Smith’s apartment because Mr. Johnson needed money. He said he and a third person whom he wouldn’t name went to Ms. Smith’s apartment. After asking for some cigarettes and soda, “Before I knew it he [Mr. Johnson] was already stabbing her.” Mr. Davis said that he grabbed cigarettes and the other person grabbed the scanner and they left. He said that Mr. Johnson then walked out after them and said, “Man, I killed her, man. I killed her.” 

Mr. Davis said he then went to his mother’s house which was nearby on 16th Street. He denied taking part in the stabbing. 

The police interviewed Mr. Davis again on March 24. During this interview, he admitted carrying a “kitchen knife” when he went to Ms. Smith’s apartment and that he “probably” nicked her.

No forensic evidence connected the brothers to the crime. Although DNA testing had been performed, it was during the early days of DNA testing, and nothing of value could be ascertained. 

On Aug. 14, 1992, Judge Terry Foster denied the motions to suppress the statements of Mr. Davis and his brother, but granted a request from Mr. Johnson’s attorney to sever Mr. Johnson’s case from the Davis brothers’ cases. 

The Trial

On Sept. 15, 1992, jury selection began for the joint trial of Mr. Davis and his brother. After eight jurors had been seated, a recess was taken during which both men agreed to plead guilty and testify against Mr. Johnson after the prosecution agreed not to seek the death penalty. 

At Mr. Davis’ plea hearing, Judge Foster asked whether any promises had been made to him. Mr. Davis replied, “No, sir. I just want to live. That’s the only reason I am pleading to it.” 

Mr. Johnson went to trial on Sept. 28, 1992. He waived a jury and chose to have his case decided by Judge Foster. During the five-day trial, Mr. Davis and Isaac both testified, though their accounts varied and were contradictory at times. On Oct. 2, 1992, Judge Foster acquitted Johnson. 

“I find Danny and Isaac’s testimony simply not reliable enough to convict Mr. Johnson beyond a reasonable doubt,” Judge Foster said. He concluded that “the inconsistencies and uncertainties in his testimony far outweigh the indications of truthfulness and their reliability.” 

On Nov. 6, 1992, Judge Foster sentenced Mr. Davis to life in prison without parole. He sentenced Isaac to 35 years in prison. 

“We did not kill her,” Mr. Davis declared. “I am not a violent person. I have a heart for everybody on this earth.” 

The Exoneration

In November 2018, Vanessa Potkin of the Innocence Project as well as Lauren Myerscough-Mueller and Karl Leonard of the Exoneration Project at the University of Chicago Law School, and Lauren Kaeseberg and Maria de Arteaga of the Illinois Innocence Project, filed a motion for DNA testing. Although much of the evidence in the case no longer existed, a search turned up fingernail clippings from Ms. Smith. 

After a hearing in November 2020, testing was ordered on 14 fingernail clippings/fragments. Male DNA was obtained on four of the clippings. Mr. Davis, his brother, and Mr. Johnson were excluded as the sources of the male DNA. In May 2021, a search of the Illinois State Combined DNA Index System did not yield any potential candidates to compare to the unknown male DNA. In June 2021, the trial court ordered similar searches of DNA databases in Missouri, Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Indiana. Missouri refused to do a search. Searches in the other states were negative. 

In February 2024, Mr. Davis’ legal team filed a petition seeking to vacate his conviction. In addition to the DNA test results, the petition cited evidence pointing to critical witnesses and possible suspects, some of which was not disclosed by the prosecution prior to the brothers pleading guilty. 

The petition also cited a report by Dr. Michael O’Connell, a psychologist and expert on false confessions. Dr. O’Connell said that “Danny possessed individual factors that would have made him unusually vulnerable to the interrogative techniques in March of 1992.” He added that Mr. Davis showed “a strong tendency to be tricked by leading or misleading questions.” 

On Nov. 8, 2024, following an evidentiary hearing, Circuit Court Judge Tyler Edmonds vacated Mr. Davis’s conviction and ordered a new trial. The judge cited the DNA evidence as well as the evidence regarding the likelihood that Mr. Davis had falsely confessed. 

Mr. Davis was released on Nov. 12, 2024. A year later, on Nov. 12, 2025, the prosecution dismissed the case.