A Shreveport man was found guilty in Caddo District Court Friday, July 14, of armed robbery and a shooting at a popular local restaurant.
The eight-woman, four-man jury in District Judge Ramona Emanuel’s court deliberated less than an hour before finding Devonta Davis, 23, guilty as charged of the armed robbery and guilty of attempted manslaughter.
Jurors learned that on July 29, 2017, Davis and an accomplice waited outside the back of El Compadre Mexican restaurant to commit a robbery. When their victim exited the eatery, they approached her at gunpoint and demanded her purse.
The woman’s son rushed to her defense and was shot twice in the chest, suffering life-threatening wounds. He spent months in rehabilitation and underwent several surgeries, but has made a full recovery.
Davis and his accomplice left the scene on bicycles and eventually abandoned them in a field along the ditch line in the neighborhood surrounding the restaurant. Officers recovered the victim’s purse, wallet and cell phone in one of the fields. Nearby, officers recovered articles of Davis’ bloody clothing. The physical evidence, as well as witness testimony and a statement from the co-defendant, who pleaded guilty in a separate trial as a principal to the armed robbery, proved Davis’s guilt to the satisfaction of the jury.
Davis will return to face Judge Emanuel for sentencing August 28. He faces up to 20 years in prison for the attempted manslaughter conviction, and faces up to 99 years for the armed robbery.
Assistant District Attorneys Brittany Arvie and William “Bill” Edwards prosecuted. Davis was defended by Katherine Ferguson, Royal Alexander and Evan McMichael.
The case was docket No. 370411.
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