Crime & Safety

Paper: New Evidence in Marietta Teen's Shooting Death

Jordan Russell Davis, 17, was killed in November outside a convenience store in Jacksonville, Fla.

The case surrounding the November shooting death of a Marietta teen could parallel that of a similar shooting that occurred last year in the same state.

Jordan Russell Davis, 17, who split time at his mother’s home in Marietta and father’s home in Jacksonville, Fla., was shot and killed outside a Jacksonville convenience store on Nov. 23. Michael David Dunn, 45 at the time of Davis’ death, was arrested a day later.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Tuesday reported that Dunn—who faces charges of first-degree murder and three counts of attempted murder—is claiming self-defense, but police have not found the shotgun Dunn said had been pointed at him before he allegedly fired into the SUV that Davis and three others had been in at the time. A 911 recording released Monday featured a witness telling the operator that the teens in the vehicle “looked like they were either looking … or trying to stash something inside the car” prior to returning to the convenience store where the shots were fired. 

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According to the AJC’s report, an attorney for Dunn said that his defense likely will be based on Florida’s “stand your ground” law—the same law at the center of the February 2012 shooting death of Trayvon Martin. George Zimmerman was charged in April in connection with Martin’s death.

The Trayvon Martin case has another West Cobb connection—the movie Neighborhood Watch had some of its scenes filmed in Powder Springs. Before its release and in the wake of the Martin shooting, ads for the movie were pulled in Florida and were later phased out nationally. The film also saw its title shortened to The Watch before it debuted in theaters.

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Family and friends gathered for visitation for Davis at West Cobb Funeral Home and Crematory one week after his death; he was buried a day later in Marietta. But since those remembrances, others have paid tribute to the late teen.

Earlier this year, Jacksonville proclaimed Saturday, Feb. 16, as Jordan Russell Davis Day, according to actionnewsjax.com. The day fell on what would have been Davis’ 18th birthday.


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