Pair convicted of first-degree murder in shooting death of two women
Two men Macomb County men were each convicted of first-degree murder Wednesday for the shooting deaths of two women outside their Clinton Township apartment.
Dajuan Davenport, 22, of Warren, and Darrell S. Banks, 21, of Mount Clemens, were found guilty by a Macomb County jury of two counts of first-degree murder and two counts of possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony for the deaths of Dazhane Holloway, 19, and Dionna Davis, 18, outside at the Knottingham Apartments complex.
The jury deliberated about three hours over two days following a four-day trial in front of Macomb County Circuit Court Judge Julie Gatti. Much of the trial proceedings were attended by two dozen or more people.
The pair face mandatory prison terms of life without parole when they are sentenced April 19 by Gatti.
Assistant Macomb Prosecutor Anthony Servitto called the shooting a “hit,” but no motive for the attacks was given during the trial. A photo of Davenport was found on Davis’ phone.
Servitto said the defendants waited in their parked Charger in the apartment complex parking lot on Wellington Crescent east of Gratiot Avenue for over 30 minutes Jan. 22, 2021, for the victims to return home from shopping. The victims were unloading groceries from a car in front of the apartment building where they resided at about 6:37 p.m. when Davenport and Banks ambushed them, firing 40 shots from two guns as they ran from the Charger toward the victims. Holloway was struck once in the face and Davis was struck five times. Banks was struck in the leg by an errant bullet fired by Davenport.
An 18-month-old child was found unharmed in the victims’ vehicle, although Gatti precluded the jury from learning that.
The men fled in a stolen Hellcat Dodge Charger, and police dispatchers received numerous calls about shots fired. Moments later, Davenport was driving around the speed limit until he spotted police following him and fled at speeds exceeding 130 mph before crashing the car into a pole near Eight Mile Road and Gratiot Avenue in Eastpointe.
An green-colored handgun used by Davenport and AR-15 rifle used by Banks were found in the vehicle. Their clothes matched descriptions by one witness who said she saw them run to their car after she heard the shots from her living room in her Knottingham unit.
Servitto and Assistant Macomb Prosecutor Jurij Fedorak presented video of the incident and witnesses who heard the shots, among other evidence tying the pair to the slayings.
The jury rejected the defendants’ claim they were fleeing a shooting of which they also were targets.