Milwaukee police knew of past abuse allegations before cop shot and killed wife, family says

The Milwaukee police officer who killed his wife and himself last month had been reported for domestic violence before, according to interviews and records released Wednesday.

The Police Department had been notified of Leon Davis' violent behavior several times in the years before he shot Sherida Davis with his department-issued gun before turning it on himself at their northwest side home, according to Sherida's mother, Sylvia Moragne.

"He was never arrested," she said in an interview Wednesday.

At least two city officials have said publicly Davis' behavior was known to his department bosses and have questioned why they did not effectively deal with it.

"I’ve had several people from the community reach out and some officers reach out and say this was something that has been known to the department and it did not reach the Fire and Police Commission," Ald. Chantia Lewis said during the Common Council's Public Safety Committee meeting this month.

"It should have been under review a long time ago before this incident escalated to this degree,” said Lewis, who represents the district where the murder-suicide occurred.

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2015 call to police 

Dispatch records obtained by the Journal Sentinel earlier this year for an unrelated story indicate police were called to the Davis home Sept. 8, 2015, for a report of a "battery-domestic violence."

Leon Davis was not arrested and police called to the scene determined "there was no evidence of a domestic violence incident," according to Sgt. Tim Gauerke, the department's spokesman. The incident led to an internal investigation and the allegation was deemed "baseless," he said.

The department hasn't said whether the officer had been previously investigated, disciplined or counseled for other domestic violence-related incidents. A records request for more information is pending.

At the committee meeting, Lewis asked Milwaukee Police Inspector Terrence Gordon why the situation was allowed "to escalate to this degree." Gordon declined to answer, saying it was "a conversation for another venue."

In general, if the department knows "somebody's a batterer they’re going to get fired," he said.

"Officers have the same due process rights as other people, so when it comes to the legalities of firing someone for something that can’t be proven, I think we’d be putting the city in a position where there’s some other liability," he said.

Past examples show officers suspected of domestic violence-related offenses have been able to keep their jobs.

Within the past year, one officer convicted of disorderly conduct for breaking down a door during an argument with his wife received a 30-day suspension, and a sergeant whose wife got a restraining order against him during their contentious divorce proceedings was ordered to complete confidential programming or face a 30-day suspension.

Divorce was pending

Leon and Sherida Davis filed for divorce in 2012 and again last year. They were scheduled for a hearing in late March. Experts say in general, leaving an abusive relationship can be the most dangerous time because an abuser often tries to re-establish control.

On March 11, Sherida Davis was planning to take the couple's two young sons to see a movie. She and her husband had an argument and she called her mother shortly before 2 p.m.

"I asked her if she was OK because I sensed something in her voice," her mother, Moragne, recalled during an interview.

"I think so," her daughter answered.

Moragne could hear Leon Davis yelling in the background and asked her daughter if she should call 911.

"I don't think so," her daughter said.

Davis grabbed the phone and said his wife had called 911 for "no apparent reason" before.

"She should have called many more times than she did," Moragne told him.

Davis kept yelling — "I want her out of the house" — and Moragne hung up.

911 call before shots

Sherida Davis did call 911 about five minutes before she was shot, according to records the Milwaukee County medical examiner's office released Wednesday.

"The couple had been arguing and Sherida called 911 at 1:54 p.m. asking for help," the reports say. "Police were sent for a family trouble."

A "family trouble" call is generally given lower priority response than a "battery-domestic violence."

Gauerke, the police spokesman, said it was classified as "family trouble" because there was no report of a gun being used or violence and labeled a Priority 3, which is considered a less urgent call.

The couple's two children, ages 8 and 12, were home at the time. The 12-year-old told investigators he heard an argument, then about six gunshots.

The boy left his room and found his parents unresponsive on the kitchen floor. He called 911 at 1:59 p.m. — five minutes after Sherida called — and performed CPR on his mother, according to the reports.

That call came in as a shooting and was given a Priority 1, the highest available, and officers arrived at 2:02 p.m., according to Gauerke.

Paramedics were dispatched at 2:01 p.m. and had to "stage" when they arrived, meaning they followed policy to wait for police to secure the area, and began to treat the couple at 2:10 p.m.

Sherida Davis, 38, was shot in the chest, shoulder, abdomen and leg, but was still alive and taken to Froedtert Hospital. She died about two hours later.

Leon Davis, 47, was dead from a single gunshot wound to the head.

Investigators found his department-issued .40-caliber Smith and Wesson service weapon and eight casings inside the house.

Moragne told the medical examiner's investigator there had been past problems of domestic violence and Leon was "out of control with his drinking."

A relative of Leon Davis told an investigator he knew the officer had been drinking more since the divorce was filed but was not aware of violence in the relationship.

The Sojourner Family Peace Center in Milwaukee operates a 24-hour confidential hotline at (414) 933-2722. The National Domestic Violence Hotline can be reached at 1-800-799-7233.