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A truck driver allegedly killed two women in the 1990s and "went on with his life as if nothing happened," said Kansas City Police Chief Karl Oakman, who believes those are not his only victims.
Gary Dion Davis Sr., now 52, was arrested on Sept. 15 and charged with two counts of second-degree murder for the 1998 and 1996 deaths of Christina King and Pearl Davis, who also went by Sameemah Musawwir.
King was 26 when she was found beaten to death behind an abandoned building on Christmas Day 1998, Wyandotte County District Attorney Mark Dupree said during a press conference announcing Davis Sr.'s arrest.
Two years earlier, in November 1996, Pearl Davis' body was found in a vacant house after she was stabbed to death, according to Dupree, who said investigators do not believe Davis Sr. knew either woman.
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Gary Dion Davis Sr. is accused of killing at least two women in the 1990s and was arrested Sept. 15, 2023. (Wyandotte County Detention Center)
"DNA evidence from both murder scenes match the known DNA profile of Gary Dion Davis," Dupree said. "These charges demonstrate justice is possible no matter how much time has elapsed."
Each murder charge carries a maximum of life in prison, if convicted, Dupree said.
He does not have a listed lawyer and is currently being held in the Wyandotte County Detention Center in northwest Missouri on $500,000 bond.
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Davis Sr. is a local Kansas City, Kansas, resident who worked as a truck driver. Police said he was asked to come in to talk about the cold cases, "at which he was placed under arrest."
He is officially charged with two murders, but Oakman believes there could be more victims.
"We've taken a dangerous individual off the street," Oakman said. "In my experience, based on him killing two women, most likely he's killed more."
Pictures of Christina King, left, and Pearl Davis, who were killed in Kansas City, Kansas, in the 1990s, were shown during a press conference announcing the arrest of their suspected killer. (Kansas City Police Department)
Arnetta Davis, Pearl Davis' niece, attended Wednesday's press conference with tears in her eyes. Pearl Davis left behind two children and Arnetta Davis said they are all trying to process the information.
"Today after 27 years the punk who killed my aunt has been arrested," she posted on Facebook. "This is just the beginning. He is a serial killer. He was an over the road truck driver for years."
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King's daughter, Christina Parks, who was 10 when her mom died, said in a 2021 interview with Fox 4 Kansas City that she wanted to know who did it and why, as the local news outlet covered a vigil to raise awareness to what was a dead-end case at the time.
"How could they do that to such a young person? She was only 26," Parks said in 2021. "And like, her autopsy there were so many injuries and so many abrasions and bruises. I just don’t understand what she could have done that bad to deserve that."
Kansas City Police Chief Karl Oakman, center, and Wyandotte County District Attorney Mark Dupree, center right, announcing cold case murder arrest. (Kansas City Police Department)
"Decades" of backlogged cold cases
There were two cold cases checked off with the announcement of Davis Sr.'s arrest Wednesday, but there is a "significant" backlog of cases "going back five, six decades," Oakman said.
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The cold case unit, which he started a little over a year ago, identified suspects in 11 cases to date, and will continue working through the logjam starting with the ones that have potential leads or suspects, he said.
"It may not be today, it may not be tomorrow. In fact, it may not be this year, but there's going to be a time when you're in a drive-thru line or at the grocery store, and we're going to eventually get you," Oakman said.
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