Willis Davis listens to his attorney, Betsy Allen, at North Las Vegas Justice Court on Thursday, Feb. 25, 2021. (Bizuayehu Tesfaye/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @bizutesfaye
Willis Davis, who was convicted in a jury trial of killing three teenagers in North Las Vegas in 1996, appears via videoconference during his sentencing at the Regional Justice Center, on Tuesday, Nov. 9, 2021, in Las Vegas. (Bizuayehu Tesfaye/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @bizutesfaye
Reginald Moore, left, a father of one of the three shooting victims, 14-year-old Jason Moore, sits in a courtroom during Willis Davis’ sentencing at the Regional Justice Center, on Tuesday, Nov. 9, 2021, in Las Vegas. Davis was convicted in a jury trial of killing three teenagers in North Las Vegas in 1996. (Bizuayehu Tesfaye/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @bizutesfaye
Willis Davis appears in North Las Vegas Justice Court on Thursday, Feb. 25, 2021. (Bizuayehu Tesfaye/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @bizutesfaye
Willis Davis conducts an interview via video chat from the Clark County Detention Center on Wednesday, Feb. 24, 2021, in Las Vegas. (Bizuayehu Tesfaye/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @bizutesfaye
Clayton Street is seen on Wednesday, Feb. 24, 2021, in North Las Vegas. Willis Davis was connected to a case in which the bodies of two teenagers were found in a desert on the 3000 block of Clayton Street, south of Cheyenne Avenue. (Bizuayehu Tesfaye/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @bizutesfaye
North Clayton Street sign is seen on Wednesday, Feb. 24, 2021, in North Las Vegas. Willis Davis was connected to a case in which the bodies of two teenagers were found in a desert on the 3000 block of Clayton Street, south of Cheyenne Avenue. (Bizuayehu Tesfaye/Las Vegas Review-Journal) @bizutesfaye
Willis Davis (North Las Vegas Police Department)
A man convicted of the 1996 killings of three teenagers in North Las Vegas was ordered Tuesday to spend the rest of his life in prison.
A jury in September convicted 44-year-old Willis Davis of three counts of first-degree murder with a deadly weapon, court records show. Davis was found guilty in the fatal drive-by shootings of 18-year-old John Muldrow Jr. on May 18, 1996, and the killings of 15-year-old Xavier Crockett and 14-year-old Jason Moore on Nov. 8, 1996.
District Judge Jacqueline Bluth ordered Davis to serve two sentences of 40 years to life in prison, along with a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Prosecutor Binu Palal said Davis’ conviction and sentencing was “a long time coming” for the victims’ families.
“I’m just happy those kids got justice,” Palal said after the hearing.
According to Davis’ arrest report, he confessed to the homicides after he was detained by police on Jan. 12. The shootings were tied to gang violence, the report said, and Davis told police he was a member of the GPK gang at the time of the killings.
Davis previously told the Review-Journal that he gave false confessions to the crimes while high on PCP, which defense attorney Betsy Allen said she argued during the trial.
Reginald Moore, Jason Moore’s father, was the only family member who attended Davis’ sentencing on Tuesday. He sat quietly while Davis was sentenced, but did not give a statement to the judge and declined to speak with the Review-Journal.
