Dad convicted of killing infant daughter in 1994 now charged in beating death of another infant daughter (Greer, South Carolina)

Recipe for disaster:

Mix a deadbeat dad like DUANE DAVIS (who had been formally convicted of KILLING ANOTHER INFANT DAUGHTER) with caretaking responsbilities for a new infant daughter (because Daddy either can't or won't support his family, so the poor mother of a 5-month-old baby is forced to work a second shift job to support his lazy @$$).

Result: Daddy bashes the baby's skull in because she "cries too much," and kills her.

This POS should have never been allowed around children again, much less back in free society in general....

http://www.greenvilleonline.com/article/20110802/NEWS/308020029/Ex-convict-accused-second-child-s-death-awaits-grand-jury-decision?odyssey=tab%7Ctopnews%7Ctext%7CGreer/Taylors


Ex-convict accused in second child's death awaits grand jury decision
Daron Duane Davis couldn't give an explanation of how his infant daughter was beaten to death, investigator testifies

5:17 PM, Aug. 2, 2011
Convict awaits grand jury decision: Duane Davis appeared before Judge Diane Cagle for a preliminary hearing on a charge of homicide by child abuse.

A Greer man who had already served time in prison for killing his infant daughter nearly two decades ago was in court today on charges that he abused and killed another infant daughter earlier this year.

Daron Duane Davis, who was released four years ago after serving a ten-year sentence, is charged with homicide by child abuse in the January death of 5-month-old Keris Davis.

Keris Davis was taken off life support days after authorities say her father broke her skull, and her father could give no explanation for how the injury happened, Greenville County Sheriff’s Investigator Chris Miller testified during a preliminary hearing today.

The mother, who was living with Daron Davis, didn’t play a part in the baby’s death, Miller testified.

The girl had been left with Davis when the mother went to work at her second-shift job, Miller testified. The next morning, she awoke and Davis told her the baby wasn’t breathing, Miller testified.

That morning, he testified, Davis had gone to drop another child off at a bus stop and returned 30 minutes later.

An autopsy showed that the baby had suffered severe head injuries that Miller testified a doctor later told him couldn’t have accidentally happened even if the baby had been dropped from a window onto concrete.

Thirteenth Circuit Defender John Mauldin elicited testimony that the baby had showed earlier medical problems of breathing trouble and that Davis’ statements about the timeline of events surrounding the death were consistent with the girl’s mother’s account.

Assistant Solicitor Christy Sustakovitch said that Davis had been evasive with investigators when they asked him to come to the law enforcement center to be interviewed about the death.

The girl’s 6-year-old sibling said in a forensic interview that Davis had turned on loud music to drown out the baby’s crying, Miller testified.

When asked by the interviewer why the baby was in the hospital, the sibling said “because she cried too much,” Miller testified.

An old sentencing law and work credits earned in prison allowed Davis to walk free less than 11 years after pleading guilty to homicide by child abuse in the death of his 11-month-old daughter in April 1994, authorities said.

Truth-in-sentencing laws didn't apply to Davis' first conviction in 1996, but he would have remained in prison until at least 2013 if they had, authorities said.

His 11-month-old daughter, Sondaria, died in April 1994.

Offenders who have been convicted of some of the state's most serious violent crimes have to serve 85 percent of their sentences but only if their crimes were committed in 1996 or later, 13th Circuit Solicitor Walt Wilkins said.

Davis was sentenced in 1996 to 20 years, the minimum for the offense. He worked a variety of jobs to earn credit toward an early, unconditional release.

The state Department of Social Services didn't become aware of the child until after she suffered the injuries that led to her death, agency spokeswoman Marilyn Matheus said.

The agency can step in when officials are made aware that a child is in a home with someone who has a criminal history, she said.

Child protective services rely on family members, medical professionals, law enforcement officers and the public to open investigations, Matheus said.

Greer police Lt. Jim Holcombe said that officers began the investigation into Keris' injuries but quickly asked Greenville County sheriff's deputies to take over because the girl's grandmother works at the Greer Police Department.

Davis entered the state prison system on April 18, 1996, and served most of his first two years at the maximum security Lieber Correctional Institution, Gelinas said.

He was sent to a medium security prison in Turbeville in April 1998, and in October of that same year went to another medium security prison in Ridgeville, Gelinas said.

Davis was transferred to a minimum security prison in Spartanburg in February 2006, where he stayed until his release on Nov. 1, 2006, Gelinas said.

He took anger management and substance abuse classes in his first year in prison and participated in adult education classes, Gelinas said.

Davis worked a variety of jobs, including brick-mason helper, senior warehouse assistant, food service aid, material cutter, custodial worker and ward keeper, Gelinas said.

Davis was rejected for parole four times between 2000 and 2005, according to Pete O'Boyle, spokesman for the state Department of Probation, Parole and Pardon Services.

"He just did his time and maxed out. He was never on parole," O'Boyle said. "He had hearings, but he never did parole."

He wouldn't have been eligible for parole on the 1994 charge of homicide by child abuse if the crime had occurred after 1995, when the state law was changed, O'Boyle said.

"He got in just before the sentencing law was changed," O'Boyle said. "So he was eligible for parole on his prior conviction."

The department doesn't keep written records of parole hearings, he said.

"There's no parole on murder convictions, and there isn't for homicide by child abuse now," he said.

Davis and Sondaria's mother went to trial in Spartanburg County in 1996. The trial ended with plea bargains before it got into the jury's hands. Davis pleaded guilty to homicide by child abuse while maintaining that he didn't kill the girl, The News reported.

Davis wasn't on supervised release or probation when he got out of prison because he had finished serving the required time, O'Boyle said.

Restrictions can be put on convicts only when they are placed on probation, said Assistant 13th Circuit Solicitor Kris Hodge. Judges often split sentences, ordering prison and probation upon release.

Magistrate Diane Cagle passed charges against Davis along to a grand jury for consideration of an indictment.