Zachary Davis, a 15-year-old American teenager who little by little switched from being a regular kid to one who’d act strangely, talk less, speak in a unusual way when he finally decides to, hit his mother over and over again with a sledgehammer until he was sure she breathed her last, and attempted to kill his older brother. For his crimes, he became well-known as the teen killer, and was sentenced to a life in prison to only be eligible for parole after 5 decades.
Details You Don’t Know About Zachary Davis
1. He lost his dad at the age of 9
Zachary was only 9 years old in 2007 when his father, Chris, died of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), otherwise known as Lou Gehrig’s disease.
2. How his father’s death changed him
The death of a loved one has different outcomes on people. For young Zachary, the death of his father led him into a tailspin. According to his grandmother, he had to be seen by a doctor following the death.
3. Zachary Davis had an odd behavior
He was distant and would only say a few words to people; and when he does, it would feel like he was whispering. Even at that, his sense of dressing was out of the ordinary because he would wear the same hoodie everyday even if the weather was warm. In addition, a Reddit post from a claimed former classmate of Zachary, he said the teen killer would walk aimlessly the same way, and sit the same way.
4. The killer has an older brother
Zachary Davis is the second of the two sons of their parents. His older brother Josh was a normal kid who participated in school football.
5. He was allegedly raped by his brother
Among siblings, sexual molestation has been reported a number of times. This also was the case of Zachary and his older brother – or maybe not. Zachary claimed his older brother raped him, and his mother neglected his claim. Although he said he told no one else of the incidence, a detective Don Linzy said he contacted the Department of Children’s Services and his office investigated the allegations, but there was no evidence the crime ever happened?
6. Were his other family members bizarre?
Other than Zachary, his family members had quite a normal life. His mother was involved in athletics before she met her death while as mentioned earlier; his older brother was a football player in school. Since the murder of his mother Melanie Davies, not much has been heard of his older brother.
7. He bludgeoned his mother more than 12 times till she died
It was a night that was to a certain extent normal for the Davis’ when Zachary, his mother, and older brother went out for a movie. Upon their return, he packed some stuff, went to bed and waited for the right time to strike. While his mother was sleeping, he crept into her room with a sledge hammer only to bludgeon her head more than 12 times till she died.
8. Davis laughed while killing his mother
In his confession to the authority, he said he laughed while he ended his mom’s life. He then said he didn’t know what was funny though.
9. Why did Zachary Davis kill his mother?
Even though no reason can ever justify the actions of Zachary, he claimed it was because his older brother abused him sexually, and his mother would not take any action. Further claim has been made on Reddit that it was because his mother had a new lover in her life. In an interview by Dr Phil, he said he killed her because she was not taking care of his family.
10. How the teen killer almost killed his brother
Killing his mother was not enough for him as he went after the life of his brother when he set the room ablaze. Fortunately his brother made it out alive to a neighbor’s house. Zachary Davis later told detective that if given the opportunity, he’d kill his brother with the sledgehammer.
11. Davis didn’t feel sorry for ending his mother’s life
In his handwritten confession of the crime, he admitted to killing his mother, and living his brother to suffer, but he wasn’t sorry that he did it. His only regret however was not given her a quicker death, because he did not want her to suffer.
12. Zachary Davis claimed his father asked him to kill his mother
As a reason why the crime took place was his claim to have heard his father’s voice a number of times, and it was indeed his father that asked him to kill his mother. Later during questioning, he said it wasn’t his father who asked him to take his mother’s life.
13. Was he evil or was there a mental ailment?
From what has been gathered from his case, there’s a possibility he was purely evil, or that he was acting based on mental ailment. Upon his arrest, it was discovered he had 2 applications on his phone – one was for a list of serial killers while the other was murder weapons app. Judge Dee David Gay told Zachary he became evil.
On the subject of the possibility of mental health, his grandmother attested that he suffered mentally after the demise of the father and would keep to himself. She said even though he started a therapy, it did not last, and the family moved to a new town in Tennessee. Furthermore, a psychiatrist Dr. Bradley Freeman after diagnosing him said “he was driven by psychosis”. He suffered from schizophrenia and a depressive disorder. Also, Philips suggested he could be suffering from Scrizophrenia, while Whitley said there was a search for paranoid schizophrenia on 4th August, 2012 found on Davis’ phone .
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14. His arrest and trial
Zachary was found by the authorities nearly 10 miles from home. In the witness box, he claimed he didn’t commit the crime, but he took the fall for his brother. Even though it was believed he may be suffering from mental imbalance, the judge and jury believed the murder was premeditated, therefore he had to pay for his crime.
15. Zachary Davis Was sentenced to life behind bars
At the age of 17, 2 years after the murder, Davis was sentenced to life in prison for first-degree murder with an additional 20 years for attempted murder and aggravated arson for setting fire on his house. In Tennessee, life sentence is 60 years to be eligible for parole after 51 years.
