Man convicted of murdering fiancée
After more than a year behind bars, a Catoosa County man learned his fate Thursday morning, March 30, when he was found guilty of murdering his fiancée last spring and staging the scene to look like a suicide.
Brian Colby Davenport, 48, of Ringgold has spent the past 383 days in jail and will probably spend the rest of his life there after being convicted of malice murder, felony murder, two counts of making false statements, aggravated assault, two counts of tampering with evidence, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime.
Both counsels in the case, Public Defender Sean Lowe and Assistant District Attorney Chris Arnt, gave closing arguments Wednesday afternoon.
The case was heard in Catoosa County Superior Court by Judge Brian House.
Davenport’s sentencing hearing was scheduled for 9 a.m. Tuesday, April 4.
Background
Shortly after 6:30 p.m. on April 11, 2016, Catoosa County sheriff’s deputies and emergency personnel were dispatched to remote portion of Taylor’s Ridge Road regarding a reported suicide.
At the scene, deputies found 46-yearold Deborah Lynn Abney of Ringgold lying dead after suffering a single gunshot wound to the back of the head.
Davenport told police Abney killed herself inside his 1992 Honda Civic because she was upset over having lost custody of their children earlier that day in court.
Davenport claimed he and Abney left the courthouse around 4:45 p.m. that day and went to the Fred’s store in the Shop-Rite plaza to pick up some sandwich
supplies and alcohol.
The duo then went to a friend’s property on Taylor’s Ridge Road where the incident occurred.
Davenport told investigators that about 20 minutes after arriving, he went to the trunk of his car to change his shirt, which is when he claimed he heard the gunshot and then discovered Abney had shot herself in the head with his .38-caliber revolver that’d been in the car’s glove compartment.
Investigators say Davenport changed his story when interviewed about the events. They arrested him on charges of murder the next day.
Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) officers determined that the scene had been staged, which is when Davenport admitted he had placed the gun in Abney’s hand after the shooting had occurred.
Investigators also found it suspicious that Davenport failed to call 911 directly after the incident. He instead had to be encouraged to call 911 by the property owner who arrived at the scene about 15 minutes after the shot rang out.