Brian Davenport found guilty of malice murder

Colby Davenport
Colby Davenport

RINGGOLD, Ga. - As a row of women with connections to his deceased girlfriend sat behind him, Brian Colby Davenport listened as a court clerk announced the verdict in his murder trial Thursday morning.

"Count one," the clerk read, referring to a charge of malice murder, "guilty."

The clerk read the next eight counts, each a conviction for felony murder, aggravated assault, two counts of making false statements, two counts of possession of a firearm in the commission of a crime and two counts of tampering with evidence. The jury believed the prosecution's narrative: Davenport, 49, shot Debora Lynn Abney in the back of the head in a secluded area on Taylors Ridge Road in Ringgold, then put the .38 revolver in Abney's hands to stage the scene as a suicide.

Davenport will be sentenced in Catoosa County Superior Court on Tuesday at 9 a.m., though there isn't much room to manipulate his punishment. Malice murder is his most severe crime, and it carries a minimum sentence of life in prison with the possibility of parole - a parole for which he would not be eligible until 2047.

As the clerk announced the jury's verdict, the victim's mother, Sue McGill, smiled briefly before hugging the woman sitting next to her. And next to them, Emily Abney, the victim's daughter from a previous relationship, cried.

On Tuesday, McGill and Emily Abney testified about Davenport's history of anger and abuse toward Debora Abney, whom he had dated for 17 years. Once, Emily Abney told the jury, she found him beating her mother against a headboard. Debora Abney called her several times out of fear, and Emily Abney tried to help.

But, she said, "when it got continuous, I couldn't keep trying to save her."

Added McGill: "She was addicted to him."

The evidence in the case, presented by Lookout Mountain Judicial Circuit Assistant District Attorney Chris Arnt, hinged on Davenport's conflicting stories in the hours after Debora Abney died. On March 11, 2016, Davenport told Catoosa County Sheriff's Office Detective James Stockard that he had been behind his car changing his shirt when he heard a gunshot and found his girlfriend dead in the passenger's seat.

But while the gun sat inside the car when crime scene investigators arrived, they found mud in the barrel. When Stockard asked about the dirty weapon, Davenport said the gun flew out the car's window when Debora Abney pulled the trigger. He said he put the gun next to her so investigators wouldn't think he killed her. Later, Davenport said he took the gun from Debora Abney after the suicide, in a panic. He dropped the gun on the ground, then put it back where he found it.

Like Stockard, the jury did not buy those stories. Also, medical examiners concluded that the bullet entered through the back of Debora Abney's head, making suicide seem less likely.

Davenport's lawyer, Sean Lowe, tried to explain those issues. He said Debora Abney could have been suicidal. Her family testified that she had a drinking problem, and a toxicologist found methamphetamine in her system. Lowe argued substance abuse could have made her depressed.

But Arnt countered in his closing arguments Wednesday that the physical evidence was overwhelming. He tried to provide an explanation for why the crime could have happened: For whatever reason, Davenport felt an urge to abuse women. His history of domestic violence, seemingly unable to be stopped until now, was a thread throughout the week.

In addition to Emily Abney and McGill, Arnt called Davenport's former wife and the couple's daughter. In 1990, according to a police report, after he had been kicked out of the house, Davenport returned, swung the front door open and threw his ex-wife against the wall. He began hitting her. Their daughter testified that she remembered another violent event: Her mother was backing out of the driveway, trying to escape Davenport. But Davenport caught up to them and punched her through the window.

Davenport and Debora Abney's two daughters also testified Tuesday. Though they were young, they said they could remember Davenport throwing Debora Abney against a refrigerator and pressing a gun to her head. He told her he was going to kill her, they said.

"Send a message to this defendant," Arnt told the jury Wednesday. "His long history of abuse of the women in his life is over."

The jurors began deliberating Thursday morning and reached their conclusion in about 90 minutes. Several declined to comment after the trial, but others lingered in front of the courthouse.

About 20 minutes after the verdict, Emily Abney walked outside, and a juror hugged her.

"Thank you so much," the victim's daughter said.

Contact staff writer Tyler Jett at 423-757-6476 or tjett@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @LetsJett.

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