Six weeks after Davina was found dead, Rex Gore, District Attorney of Brunswick County, ruled that Davina had died from a suicide. His ruling was based on the following points.

Gore's Points

 

Counterpoint
     
Weapon on the scene at body TRUE Could have been placed there
     
Weapon covered with blood TRUE The weapon was lying two to three inches from her head which was bleeding from the wound.
     
Weapon seen in victim's right hand (fell while moving the body FALSE
Fire Chief Brown said one thing; 
Cain another		 See below
Brown never got closer than the back of Davina's truck to her body. When she was picked up by the EMT's his view was partially hidden by her truck. How could he see much of anything?
     
1 shell casing found at fence TRUE Could have been tossed there Hearings
     
1 bullet missing from weapon TRUE Ballistics results came back saying the the bullet and test lack sufficient microscopic agreement whether or not Cain or Jones' weapon fired the gun. The bullets used on BHI all came from the same batch order.
     
1 large pool of blood (indicating she fell immediately where shot) FALSE Why were there 2 sites of blood away from the body AND a bloody hand print on the back of her truck?
     
Blood only on right side of victim's head TRUE She was lying with her head turned toward the left; the blood was naturally going to flow one way - to the right
     
Flashlight left in truck TRUE She could not work the outdated microphone on that windy night with no shirt strap, carry her flashlight and leave her other hand free to use her pistol, if need be. The police chief had begged for better equipment, but the police were in such high regard that they had to bring their own toilet paper to work, so there had been no better equipment coming.
     
Vehicle backed in with park lights on TRUE Why would you need lights to kill yourself?
     
No blue light or headlights on vehicle (no street lights present) TRUE They could have been turned off by her assailant(s).
     
Nothing taken  (stolen from truck or body) Possibly TRUE They didn't kill her to steal anything
     
No footprints found on scene Possibly TRUE The scene was in chaos. How can we be sure?
     
No sign of struggle/altercation at scene Possibly TRUE The scene was in chaos and then hosed down in less than 12 hours. How can we be sure? The woman weighed 90 pounds and stood 4'10'' - how much struggle could there be?
     
Keith Cain's second interview put weapon in hand at head area FALSE In the second interview he said, "Like so, none of fingers were up under the weapon at all. And her fingers, more or less came just resting like so." In the third interview, he said, "Up under her other hand the gun was laid, or was up under her hand. Her hand was slightly around it, and she's got small hands, too." Hearings
     
GSR positive on right glove of hand TRUE GSR test result was the same for her as it was for Cain and the three in boat without lights that the Coast Guard stopped.
     
FBI trace metal analysis positive with ammo in clip and spare clip TRUE No one has disputed her weapon was used. But who pulled the trigger is what is in question.
     
Cartridge distance tests consistent with range casting was found TRUE/FALSE If tossed there, what difference does it make? Hearings
     
Major case print analysis was pending at the time Gore's decision was made  
     
No latent (suspect) prints found on duty weapon TRUE If there were no prints, where was Davina's? Hearings.
     
Audio tape analysis for ID any background or voices (pending) FALSE This was never ordered due to DA's hasty suicide ruling.
     
Extreme hard contact wound TRUE Wound was dead center, equal pressure impact
     
No stripping outside TRUE Close impact wound
     
Soot/Powder within TRUE Close impact wound
     
Gases blown within TRUE Close impact wound
     
Angle consistent FALSE With what?  Hearings
     
Blood on right hand TRUE She was bleeding out of her head lying on its right side. There was a tremendous amount of blood collecting in the street.
     
Immobilized after shot TRUE She was not able to kneel, walk or anything else although her heart did continue to beat, pumping blood out for a long time.
     
No other bruises FALSE In fact, there was a fresh bruise on her right wrist in the place where someone might have been fending off an attacker and had been wounded by the casing of a bullet as it came out of a gun at the back of the head. 
     
    Inside wrist wound
No defensive wounds FALSE See above picture.
     
No fingernail residue TRUE And this proves?
     
Demeanor on 911 tape too calm ? Police officers are trained to be calm in dangerous situations, aren't they? Listen to tape and decide.
     
Three subjects on cart (before) heard stand by spoken by her on radio TRUE Proving what? Without a time stamp we don't know when that was done.
     
No background noises noted on tape   Listen to tape and decide. We really don't know because the tape was never digitally analyzed.
     
No other voices noted on the tape   Listen to tape and decide. We really don't know because the tape was never digitally analyzed.
     
Diagnosed Depressive Suicidal FALSE There was never a consensus that Davina was suicidal.
     
Under doctor's care TRUE Does that mean that everyone who goes to a doctor is  deemed suicidal?
     
Told doctor of wishes to drive a car into a tree TRUE Most of us have days when we feel discouraged and say things, but we don't intend to follow through on them.
     
Conversation with Laura Atkins, Texas, spoke suicidal (twice that day) FALSE As a matter of fact, Laura, Davina's best friend said later, that the SBI agent who talked to her only wanted to talk about suicide. She didn't really want to hear about anything else. Laura, in fact, did not believe that Davina was suicidal and was in the process of getting on with her life. The two friends were accustomed to talking by phone several times a day. On this day, Laura was sick and Davina was trying to help her friend get better.
     
Conversation with ex-boyfriend just before TRUE But she had told him she wanted to remain friends with both he and his wife with whom he had just reconciled. She was not depressed about the situation with him.
     
Recently victim told ex-boyfriend 'world was crumbling around her' TRUE She was angry over the treatment she was getting from officials concerning her harassment charges and feared she would be fired.
     
Excessive alcohol use recently TRUE Davina had gotten uncharacteristically under the influence the previous Wednesday night. Her boyfriend had just insinuated himself back into her life long enough to have had sex with her, then told her he had moved back in with his wife and was going to try to reconcile. Her reaction was probably what many other women would feel: betrayed and angry. She apologized for her actions during a phone call to him on Friday. She drank that ONE night.
     
OIPD was called for welfare check TRUE/FALSE Her ex-boyfriend had asked for the office to check on her to make sure she was all right prior to their phone conversations on Friday.
     
Threatened suicide two days before according to a male friend TRUE/FALSE We have this friend's word. This occurred during the time she was dealing with the betrayal of her boyfriend.
     
Location of shot consistent with female suicide (vanity) FALSE In fact, the location of the shot was testified by several witnesses to be a strange and unusual place for a suicide target.
     
Victim observed that day, possible upset ? The witness named was a gentleman working on the island. Since she was with her partner for most of the evening, he did not witness such an event. The only time she was alone was during the time leading up to her death. Perhaps this man needs to be questioned about other things than her attitude. Everybody else who saw her that day said she was in a good mood - also a reason cited by the DA as a reason for suicide from time to time.
     
Filed a sexual harassment charge on Bald Head employee TRUE He should have been a suspect rather than an excuse for suicide on her part.
     
Victim destroyed negative evaluation same day of incident FALSE There has not been any evidence of a negative evaluation given to Davina on that day.
     
Victim broke directives (separated from partner of own accord) TRUE/FALSE This is interesting. When questioned, no one would admit to knowing anything about a directive that she stay with a partner. Yet there was such a directive issued by the interim Police Chief on October 13 to that effect. She had also been placed on night duty to protect her from having any more run-in's with certain people on the island she had angered by not treating them with the respect and courtesy they thought they deserved. The ban supposedly had been lifted recently.
     
Victim tore up her personnel record and threw it into the trashcan in the police office TRUE Davina had been working on a task given where she was to list her positives and negatives on the job. She had made notes prior to entering them into a word-processing document. Once she had done so, she tore up the notes she had made. That was what was in the trash can. No one, including Davina, had access to personnel records - they were kept under lock and key.
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