‘Likely he’s killed more’: Kansas City, Kansas, trucker charged in 2 cold case murders
A Kansas City, Kansas, man is accused of killing two women during the 1990s after detectives working under a newly formed cold case unit connected him to the crimes through DNA evidence, authorities said Wednesday.
Gary Dion Davis, 52, is charged with two counts of second-degree murder and held in the Wyandotte County jail on a $500,000 bond. Police Chief Karl Oakman and District Attorney Mark Dupree announced his charges during a press conference at police headquarters.
Davis, an over-the-road truck driver at the time of the killings, is accused of murdering Christina King, a 26-year-old mother who was found beaten to death on Christmas Day 1998 behind an abandoned building. He is also charged in the fatal stabbing of Pearl Barnes, who also went by Sameemah Musawwir, who was found two years earlier in a vacant house in the 700 block of Lafayette Avenue in northeast KCK.
Authorities on Wednesday said they solved two other cold case homicides: that of an infant found in a dumpster in 1976, though the suspect has died, and the 1997 shooting of a teenager, whose alleged killer reportedly confessed while in hospice at a Kansas prison.
Detectives are continuing to investigate the circumstances behind the killings Davis is accused of, Oakman said. Investigators found no information to suggest Davis knew either of the women. His department is working with other law enforcement agencies as police suspect he may have been involved in other violent crimes.
“We believe that once we’re done with the investigation that we may be able to connect him to other cases, but we still need the public’s help,” Oakman said. “We’ve reached out to other agencies, going through their cold cases. ... But, in my experience, based on him killing two women, most likely he’s killed more.”
Davis did not have an attorney listed in court records who could be reached for comment.
Oakman said Davis went on with “his normal life like nothing happened” after the alleged murders. The chief pointed to the outcome as an example of the department’s dedication to solving homicides despite challenges that come with the passage of time.
“We have a lot of unsolved cold cases. So, it may not be today. It may not be tomorrow. In fact, it may not be this year. But there’s gonna be a time,” he said. “You may be in a drive-thru line. You may be at the grocery store. We’re gonna eventually get you.”
‘I still miss him’
In July 1997, 16-year-old Dion Estell was found shot to death in a creek bed in the 3500 block of North 18th Street.
Cold case detectives trained their sights on Leon Caldwell, 66, who was being held in the Lansing prison on a first-degree murder conviction from a killing in 1998, based on his alleged confession to a cellmate. Authorities said Caldwell, who is now in hospice care, confessed to the killing from his deathbed because he wanted to offer closure to Estell’s family.
Detectives verified the confession based on specific details offered by Caldwell that only the killer could know, Oakman said. Caldwell was charged in May, police said.
Lillie Estell, his mother, was seated with other relatives of the victims at the press conference Wednesday. She said she was relieved by the charges but wished they would have come sooner. His family wonders what he would be doing now if he hadn’t been killed.
“He’s been gone a long time, and I still miss him,” she said.
Estell’s brother, Daniel Estell, wanted to know why Caldwell allegedly killed his brother. He was taken too soon, he said.
The oldest case cleared by the unit was listed by police as “Baby Girl Jane Doe.” In November 1976, residents of an apartment complex in the 2300 block of Victoria Drive discovered the infant in a dumpster with her umbilical cord still attached.
An autopsy revealed the child was killed hours after birth. Suspected causes of her death were exposure to the elements, loss of blood or brain trauma.
DNA testing ultimately led detectives to the mother of the child in 2022. During a police interview, the woman accused her grandmother of taking the baby away shortly after she gave birth.
The grandmother, who has since died, was identified by police as the primary suspect.
About a week after he was sworn in as chief in June 2021, Oakman announced plans to form a cold case unit, which was up and running in January 2022. It consists of three full-time detectives and is “the area’s only dedicated” cold case unit, KCKPD said.
Oakman said the department had identified suspects in 11 cold homicide cases.
Activists in Wyandotte County had been calling for a cold case unit, specifically urging investigations into the unsolved killings primarily of Black women.
On Wednesday, Dupree, the district attorney, praised the work of the cold case unit, saying the detectives worked “tirelessly” to bring closure on killings “so many had forgotten.”
“These charges demonstrate justice is possible no matter how much time has elapsed,” Dupree said.
This story was originally published September 20, 2023 at 5:40 PM.
