With tears running down his face, Montez Davis, 20, is consoled by his attorney, Curtis L. Bowe III, as he listens to his guilty verdict Friday in Judge Barry Steelman’s courtroom. Davis was convicted of second-degree murder, and two other charges.
Staff Photo by Tim Barber/Chattanooga Times Free PressTears streamed down Montez Davis’ face Friday as a jury pronounced him guilty of second-degree murder.
Curtis Bowe, Davis’ attorney, held his right hand on his client’s back through the reading of the verdict in Hamilton County Criminal Court, attempting to console the 20-year-old.
Family members of the man Davis shot to death, 42-year-old Jonathan Lawrence, sat quietly as the verdict was read and declined to comment as they left the courthouse.
It took the jury about three hours to return guilty verdicts on all three charges – second-degree murder, reckless endangerment and unlawful possession of a weapon.
Judge Barry Steelman scheduled a sentencing hearing for May 16, Davis faces between 15 and 25 years in prison for the murder charge alone.