A Chattanooga man was sentenced to 18 years in prison for a 2020 shooting that left one man dead — a killing prosecutors described as “really disgusting, actually” and the defense insisted was a “one-off” from someone not going off on a crime spree.
Judge Barry Steelman imposed on the defendant, Marvin Jermane Davis, 51, 12 years for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and six years for voluntary manslaughter, to be served consecutively. Davis, who had been out on bail since August 2024 after nearly five years in pretrial custody, will get credit for time served, according to his defense attorney, Dan Ripper.
Davis was charged with first-degree murder after the death of Michael Williams, 32, occurred in a housing project on the rain-soaked afternoon of Jan 3, 2020. According to the prosecution, Davis unloaded his revolver — paralyzing Williams — and then beat Williams, who died four months later from his injuries.
Ripper argued his client’s actions stemmed from fear and provocation — a point he said jurors accepted when they found Davis guilty of voluntary manslaughter and not the first-degree murder the state originally sought. Ripper said that Davis is not someone the public should fear.
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