Court affirms murder conviction for man who shot a woman in face
TEXARKANA, Arkansas — A man who shot a woman in the face after she pulled his hair was denied relief from his murder conviction by an Arkansas appellate court this week.
Markelle Demetrice Davis, 21, was found guilty of murder in the April 2019 death of 18-year-old Jaqualyn Paxton by a Miller County jury at the end of a trial in January 2020. The jury sentenced Davis to 33 years for murder and an additional 15 years for the use of a firearm for a total 48-year term.
At trial, witnesses testified that Davis and a friend of Paxton’s had been arguing in the parking lot of a Texarkana, Arkansas, apartment complex where they were helping a friend move. The friend tapped on Davis’ car with a USB charging square and Davis responded by hitting her with a pistol he carried in his waistband.
Paxton intervened and pulled Davis’ formerly long hair. A mugshot from the Arkansas Department of Corrections shows Davis’ hair is now cut short.
After having his hair pulled, Davis faced the two women who stood about three feet away, referred to them profanely and then fired a single shot that hit Paxton in the face.
On appeal, Davis argued that the jury shouldn’t have seen a video of him displaying a 9 mm handgun in an aisle at a local Walmart earlier on the night of the shooting. The Arkansas Court of Appeals disagreed.
“Here, the evidence was independently relevant because the firearm was never recovered, and it put the defendant with a firearm with an extended clip that matched the description witnesses gave of the weapon he used to shoot Paxton. The video also shows that he was very comfortable with the gun, his friends were comfortable with his having the gun, and he was dressed in the same clothing he was wearing when he was arrested,” the opinion states.
Davis also argued that the lead detective in the case shouldn’t have been able to give testimony about the gun and magazines because he isn’t an expert on firearms. The higher court found that the detective’s
testimony wasn’t prejudicial because a firearms expert from the state crime lab and a witness who had seen Davis with the gun and magazines provided basically the same testimony.
Davis is being held in a unit of the Arkansas Department of Corrections in Brickeys, Arkansas.
According to the ADC website, Davis will be eligible for parole Nov. 20, 2052.