Roderick Davie

Trumbull Co. asks Ohio Supreme Court to set execution date for Roderick Davie

The Trumbull County Prosecutor’s office will ask the Ohio Supreme Court to set an execution date for Roderick Davie of Warren now that the U.S. Supreme Court has refused to hear an appeal of a federal district court’s decision in his case.

Davie, 38, had asked the top court to consider whether he had been illegally questioned by police after killing John Coleman and Tracey Jeffereys and injuring William Everett on June 27, 1991, at Veterinary Companies of America on Main Avenue Southwest.

The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati rejected that argument last year, and the U.S. Supreme Court has refused to take up the matter.

Davie argued his conviction was flawed because he had been illegally questioned by police, as well as because of misconduct by prosecutors and deficient jury instructions.

Davie’s defense lawyers said Davie’s confession was coerced because police questioned him four times over about six hours.

Two of three federal appellate judges ruled that the confession was admissible, however, because Davie had initiated the fourth interview, the one in which he admitted to committing the crimes.

LuWayne Annos, an appellate lawyer for the prosecutor’s office, said a request for an execution date will likely be prepared next week.
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Execution date set for Trumbull County death-row inmate

The Ohio Supreme Court set execution date for a Trumbull County man convicted of killing two people at his former workplace in Warren.

Roderick Davie, also known as Abdul Hakiym Zakiy, is scheduled for lethal injection on Aug. 10 at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility in Lucasville.

He was found guilty in 1992 of the murders of John Ira Coleman and Tracey Jefferys and the attempted murder of William Everett two months after being fired from the Veterinary Companies of America in June 1991.

According to documents, Davie shot Coleman and Everett multiple times and beat Jefferys to death with a folding chair.

Trumbull County Prosecutor Dennis Watkins filed a motion in November to set the execution date, stating that the inmate had exhausted all of his state and federal court appeals.
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Clemency Hearing Set for Valley Killer

A July 14 clemency hearing has been set for a former Trumbull County man set to be executed in August.

During the clemency hearing, attorneys for Roderick Davies will be able to argue why his life should be spared.

Trumbull County Prosecutor Dennis Watkins will also argue as to why he believes the death penalty should be imposed.

Davies was sentenced to death on two aggravated murder charges for killing former coworkers John Coleman and Tracey Jefferys, along with the attempted murder of William "John" Everett at the Veterinary Companies of America pet food warehouse in Warren in 1991.
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Deny killer clemency, Trumbull official says

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Watkins: Killer ‘evil’ and a danger

If convicted murderer Roderick Davie is one thing, he is consistent, said Trumbull County Assistant Prosecutor Dennis Watkins after he spoke at Davie's clemency hearing before the state parole board Wednesday.

''He's evil from the beginning to the end,'' Watkins said. ''He's a danger.''

Davie did not speak and waived presenting any testimony during the hour and a half hearing, Watkins said. Two brothers of one of his victims, John Coleman, did speak as did the mother of Tracy Jefferys, who was also killed.

Also testifying was the survivor of the June 27, 1991, attack, John Everett.

Davis is on death row for the attack at VCA Warehouse on Main Avenue S.W. in Warren. Coleman was killed by a single gunshot to the head and Jefferys beaten to death with a folding chair.

Everett was shot in the neck, arm and shoulder, but played dead and eventually escaped to later testify in the case against Davie. Davie had been fired from the company two months earlier. The victims were former co-workers.

Davie is set to be executed Aug. 10. The parole board will make their recommendation and give it to Gov. Ted Strickland July 22, who will then decide to accept or reject the recommendation.

Watkins said Davie is an ''unabashed psychopath,'' and despite coming from a good family, had behavior problems in middle school and high school and even in prison, where he has a 200-page disciplinary record and more than 50 documented incidents of trouble, including an assault on a family member who was visiting him.

In the county jail while awaiting his trial, Davie was written up 15 times for behavior incidents, Watkins said.

''He continues to be a danger to anyone around him,'' Watkins said.

Watkins said the message he sent to the parole board is that Davie does not deserve mercy.

''He does not know the meaning of the word,'' Watkins said.

Watkins credited Warren police and especially now Lt. Gary Vingle for building a strong case against Davie. He said Vingle was the officer who got Davie's confession.

Davie would be the first inmate from Trumbull County to be executed this year. Last year, Jason Getsy and Kenneth Biros were each executed for separate murders.

Getsy, 33, was convicted in 1995 of killing Ann Serafino, 66, and nearly killing her son Chuck Serafino as part of a murder-for-hire plot triggered by a dispute over a Hubbard landscaping business. He was put to death in August.

Biros, 51, was sentenced to die in 1991 for the murder of Tami Engstrom, 22, of Brookfield. Biros' life ended by an untested method of lethal injection in December, after the state botched an execution in September and was faced with lawsuits from inmates, including Biros.

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Davie denied clemency

The state Parole Board recommended Thursday that Gov. Ted Strickland deny clemency for convicted murder Roderick Davie.

Davie is set to be executed next month for the murders of John Coleman and Tracy Jeffreys at the VCA Warehouse on Main Avenue in Warren on June 27, 1991. A third person was wounded and survived.

Davie had a hearing before the board last week on clemency, but he offered no testimony or defense. He is set to be executed Aug. 10.

Strickland can either reject the board's recommendation or uphold it.
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Board unanimously recommends death for Davie

The Ohio parole board has unanimously recommended against clemency for a Warren man convicted of killing two people nearly two decades ago.

Roderick Davie is on death row for the 1991 shooting deaths of John Coleman and Tracey Jefferys inside a Warren Pet Food Warehouse.

A third person, John Everett, was also shot, but survived.

The board's recommendation goes to Governor Ted Strickland, who will make the final decision on whether or not Davie's execution should go forward on August 10 as planned.

Up to this point, Davie has not taken part in the clemency proceedings and has not asked that his life be spared.
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Survivor remembers his terrifying ordeal as a killer’s execution date nears

John Everett knows he is a rarity: The survivor of an attack that left two people dead and the killer going to the execution chamber in Lucasville.

Yet, the 49-year-old Everett says he has spoken so much of the June 1991 day when Roderick Davie attacked him and two co-workers at the VCA Warehouse on Warren's South Main Avenue that these days he gives the ''condensed version.''

A good support system and counseling in the aftermath of the attacks have helped, he said.

Everett plans to be at Davie's scheduled execution Tuesday in Lucasville because he needs to be there for the other victims, John Coleman and Tracey Jefferys, who weren't as lucky as he.

''It's something I've got to do for John and Tracey and to let him know he wasn't going to get away with it,'' Everett said.

''I think about it every day,'' Everett said of the June 27, 1991, attack. ''Just different things trigger it.''

City police Lt. Gary Vingle, a sergeant at the time who investigated the crime with colleagues Sgt. Chuck Sines and Sgt. William Carnahan, was able to get the confession out of Davie. He called the murders one of the most brutal crimes he has seen in 34 years of police work.

Davie is set to die by lethal injection 10 a.m. Tuesday inside Ohio's Death Chamber at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility in Lucasville.

Davie was convicted of killing Coleman with several gunshot blasts. After he ran out of bullets, Davie beat Jefferys to death with a folding chair.

Everett recalled the brutal scenario last week as he revisited the scene up close for the first time since then.

Everett survived being shot three times by Davie, but played dead momentarily. When he rose and tried to run away into the parking lot, Davie chased him with a truck.

Everett, already badly injured and bleeding, leaped over the bridge wall, landing in thick brush near the Mahoning River. Davie, in pursuit, crashed the truck into bridge abutment on Main Avenue S.W. But Davie still wasn't about to give up.

Records outlining the crime say Davie climbed down to where Everett was lying and began hitting him with a tree branch in what police described as an attempt to put his eye out. Everett recalled Davie attempting to poke him with a stick before the killer finally gave up and ran away.

Although it only took minutes, to Everett it was an eternity.

''It seemed like it took forever,'' Everett said.

Everett said the days he worked at the warehouse and said he had befriended Davie at first, teaching him how to drive a truck and play pool.

''It seemed like he was normal,'' Everett said.

But Davie spoke often of a gangster lifestyle and ultimately was fired for stealing from VCA a couple of months before the attack.

Coleman had been hired just before he was killed and Everett said he did not know him very well. Jefferys practically ran the place, Everett said. He said Jefferys was always good to everyone and would even allow Davie to borrow her car.

''Tracy was a sweet person,'' Everett said. ''She let him use her car to get lunch or run errands. She was really one of a kind.''

As for Coleman, Everett said, ''He seemed to be a super nice guy from what I knew of him.''

When Davie walked into the warehouse as Everett was prepping to leave for his run, he saw the gun and at first thought they would be robbed.

''Once it all started going down, I just tried to keep quiet and still,'' Everett said. ''I just waited for my chance and I got it and I got out of there.''

Everett credits Jefferys for distracting Davie after he ran out of bullets with giving him the opportunity to escape.

''If it wasn't for her, I wouldn't be here,'' Everett said. ''That's just the kind of person she was. She did everything for everybody.''

Afterward, Davie ran to a friend's house, where court records say he told his friend he had just killed someone. The friend talked him into turning himself in. He was arrested a short time later on White Court.

Warren police got a confession out of him during his third interview.

Court records indicate that Warren detectives built their case using a solid collection of evidence, the confession and even their attention to Davie's rights. Their work was cited by judges through the trial and appellate process in the case.

The state parole board last month recommended to Gov. Ted Strickland that he deny clemency. Strickland honored that request. The board had a hearing July 14 in which relatives of Jefferys and Coleman testified, as did Everett. Davie did not offer any evidence at the hearing.

The file prosecutors used during the hearing charts a history of trouble for Davie that began in high school, when he served several in-school and out-of-school suspensions, mainly for fighting, and was expelled in 1989. He also had three adult arrests and three arrests as a juvenile before he committed the murders.

Court papers show Davie told a court-appointed psychologist that in his mid-teens he smoked marijuana frequently, sometimes as many as 16 joints a day, and also drank heavily, consuming a 12-pack of beer at the peak of his obsession with alcohol.

He also said he had trouble controlling his anger after a 1990 incident in which he was hit in the head with a baseball bat and then fell and hit his head. He was treated for his injuries, although there is some discrepancy in the court records if he was admitted or treated in the emergency room.

For Vingle, the case was personal because he had worked previously with Coleman at the Trumbull County Sheriff's Office.

''You wonder why,'' Vingle said. ''John always had a smile on his face. He was a happy-go-lucky guy.''

Vingle said he could never figure out what motive Davie had for the crimes. He said he does not think Davie came back because he was fired there.

''I can't figure it out. Why would you go back where you knew the people?'' Vingle asked.

Trumbull County Prosecutor Dennis Watkins praised the work of Warren police in the Davie case, saying the work they did virtually made the case ''appeal proof.'' He called Davie ''one of the worst offenders'' he has prosecuted and said the death penalty is the appropriate punishment for him.

Davie has a more than 200-page file of incidents he has been involved in while on death row, including the assault of a family member in 2007.

''He's even set himself apart from the worst offenders, in that if you read his record on death row is somewhat incredible,'' Watkins said.

Watkins said the case is the third within a year - the others being Kenneth Biros and Jason Getsy - of Trumbull County inmates who have been sentenced to death and had all their appeals shot down.

''That shows we're doing our job,'' Watkins said.

The next Trumbull County resident set to be executed is Charles Lorraine, 43, who was sentenced to die for the 1986 stabbing deaths of Doris, 80, and Raymond Montgomery, 77, of Haymaker Avenue N.W., Warren. He was 19 years old at the time. Watkins said he is waiting for the state Supreme Court to set an execution date for Lorraine.

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Davie Declines Special Meal; Spends Time with Family

Officials at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility in Lucasville said Roderick Davie was in a fine mood throughout the day Monday.

Davie, who was convicted of the murders of Tracy Jefferys and John Coleman, and the attempted murder of William John Everett, is scheduled to be put to death at 10 a.m. Tuesday. He arrived at the death house about 10 a.m. Monday.

According to prison officials, Davie was told about noon that Governor Ted Strickland sided with the state parole board and denied him clemency. Davie was very cooperative and spent the day fasting, they said.

During visiting hours, Davie spent the entire time with his brother, William Davie Jr., and sister-in-law, Bridget Davie. They left about 7:30 p.m.

Davie did not request a special meal and instead opted for the standard meal. Davie's last meal included turkey, gravy, sweet potatoes and cauliflower.

As of Monday night, no one from Davie's family has said they would witness the execution. Family members of both Jefferys and Coleman, as well as Everett, are said to be in attendance.

Barring any last minute appeal, Davie will be the 39th person put do death since Ohio reinstated the death penalty in 1999. To date, Ohio has executed a total of 382 convicted murderers.

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Trumbull County Killer's Life in the Balance

Roderick Davie is set to be executed Tuesday at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility in Lucasville for murdering two people in 1991 and trying to kill a third.

Davie, 38, shot and killed John Coleman and beat Tracy Jeffreys to death with a chair at the VCA Warehouse in Warren after losing his job there a couple months before. He also shot William Everett multiple times, but Everett survived.

"But you gotta go on," said Sandra Richmond, mother of Tracy Jeffreys. "You got two choices: you go on or it destroys you, and I'm a strong person and I'm a fighter and I'm gonna go on."

The State Parole Board recommended last week that Governor Ted Strickland deny clemency for Davie. The Governor has announced he will not step in to save Davie.

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Davie taken from death row to Lucasville

Convicted murderer Roderick Davie arrived at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility this morning in advance of his scheduled execution Tuesday.

Davie was transported from the Ohio State Penitentiary in Youngstown to the state prison in Lucasville during the early morning hours, and he’ll spend the day in a holding cell in the Death House, within site of the chamber where his lethal injection is to be administered in the morning.

He arrived just before 10 a.m., said Julie Walburn, spokeswoman for the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction.

Later today, Davie, who goes by the name Abdul-Hakiym Zakiy, will be allowed visits with family members and friends. He has listed his father, sister, brother and another woman among potential visitors.

“He has said he wants no contact with his attorney,” Walburn said.

Davie also declined a special meal request and will eat the standard prison issue supper, which today includes sliced turkey, a baked sweet potato and gravy, cauliflower, pineapple, a cookie, wheat bread and a grape drink.

The lethal injection is scheduled for 10 a.m., barring any unanticipated legal action. Gov. Ted Strickland denied clemency in the case this morning, going along with the recommendation of the State Parole Board. Davie did not participate in the clemency process or offer any arguments in favor of commuting his sentence to life in prison without parole.

Davie was convicted for the 1991 murders of John Ira Coleman and Tracey Jefferys and the attempted murder of William Everett two months after being fired from the Veterinary Companies of America in Warren.

According to documents, Davie shot Coleman and Everett multiple times and beat Jefferys to death with a folding chair.

Everett and four family members of the two murder victims are among the potential witnesses to the execution, according to the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction.

No one has signed on to witness on Davie’s behalf.

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Ohio's 7th execution of year scheduled today for Roderick Davie, who killed co-workers in Warren

The state of Ohio is scheduled to execute Roderick Davie, who killed a man and a woman at his former workplace in Warren in 1991, by lethal injection this morning.

Davie has talked with relatives by phone and prayed since arriving at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility on Monday. Veins in both arms have been assessed twice and appear accessible, Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction spokeswoman Julie Walburn said this morning at a media briefing.

Davie will be the seventh Death Row inmate executed in Ohio this year and the 40th since 1999.

On the morning of June 27, 1991, Davie went to his former workplace, Veterinary Companies of America, armed with a revolver. Davie had been fired from the company in April of that year.

He ordered three workers to lie face down on the floor. The employees were John Coleman, Tracey Jefferys and William Everett.

Davie shot Coleman, who died almost immediately, and Everett, who remained conscious. Davie then chased Jefferys when she got up and ran toward the company's lunchroom. He found her and beat her to death with a folding chair, according to Davie's clemency report.

When police arrested Davie later that day, he told detectives, "I just flipped out this morning. I went down to the VCA and shot 'em up."

Davie had been friendly with Everett and Jefferys when he worked at the company. Coleman was a stranger to him.

Everett and family members of Coleman and Jefferys are scheduled to witness the execution.

There are no pending legal challenges to the execution as of 8 a.m.

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Davie Executed at State Death House

Hours before his execution, prison officials described Roderick Davie as "quite but cooperative."

Davie, 38, was declared dead at 10:31 a.m. Tuesday at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility in Lucasville. Davie was convicted of the 1991 murders of John Coleman and Tracey Jefferys, and the attempted murder of William John Everett.

Witnesses included members of the media and prision officials, as well as Coleman's brothers, Randy and Denny Coleman; Jefferys' mother, Sandra Richmond; Everett, and Miriam Fife, Trumbull County victims advocate.

Davie was read the death warrant at 9:45 a.m. He had requested that no one from his family witness the execution.

Davie woke up at 5:30 a.m. and was offered the standard prison breakfast. He then visited again with his brother, William Davie Jr., and sister-in-law, Bridget Davie.

Davie declined visitation with his attorney and spiritual adviser.

Monday night, Davie did not request a special meal and instead chose the vegetarian option of the standard inmate meal. He ate vegetarian nuggets, sweet potatoes and cauliflower.

Davie after dinner spent the evening on the phone with his father, mother, nieces and daughter, Paris. He spent the rest of the night and into the morning drinking several cups of coffee. He slept briefly.

It appeared that Davie practices Islam, and he had several religious items in his possession, including a Quran, a kufi cap, which is a brimless hat, and a miswak for cleaning his teeth.

Witnesses on behalf of the victims include Coleman's brothers, Randy and Denny Coleman; Jefferys' mother, Sandra Richmond; Everett, and Miriam Fife, Trumbull County victims advocate.

Davie was be the seventh person this year and 40th person to be executed since Ohio resumed the death penalty in 1999.


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Ohio executes Roderick Davie for 1991 Trumbull County killings

Family members of Roderick Davie's two victims sat quietly together as they watched the state of Ohio execute him Tuesday morning.

Davie, 38, was convicted of killing a man and a woman at his former workplace in Trumbull County in 1991. Another man Davie shot three times during the attack lived and was among the witnesses at the execution.

Davie, strapped to a bed inside the "death house" at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility, turned his head toward the witnesses and apologized to the family members and the survivor of the attack in his final statement. He also thanked his parents, daughter and niece for their love and support.

After his statement, Davie's body lay still on the bed as the lethal injection ran through his veins. He turned his head to look at the witnesses a last time and closed his eyes before the warden pronounced him dead at 10:31 a.m. He was the seventh Ohio death row inmate executed this year and the 40th since 1999.

The witnesses were generally quiet and calm as they watched the execution up close from behind a glass divider. They declined to speak with the media afterward.

On the morning of June 27, 1991, Davie went to his former workplace, Veterinary Companies of America in Warren, armed with a revolver, and ordered three workers to lie face down on the floor. He had been fired from the company in April of that year. Davie shot John Coleman, 38, who died almost immediately, and William John Everett, who remained conscious after being shot in the head, shoulder and left arm.

Davie then pursued Tracey Jefferys, 21, when she got up and ran toward the company's lunch room. He found her and beat her to death with a folding chair, according to Davie's clemency report last month.

When police arrested Davie later that day, he told detectives, "I just flipped out this morning. I went down to the VCA and shot 'em up."

Davie was friendly with Everett and Jeffreys while he worked at the company, a distributor of pet and veterinary supplies. He even had a cordial conversation with Everett when he ran into him at a restaurant a week earlier. Coleman, on the other hand, was a stranger to Davie.

Davie apologized to Everett and the families of Coleman and Jefferys before his execution. His entire final statement was, "I'd like to thank my parents for their unconditional love and support throughout all this. My daughter, Paris, for helping me become a man and change. And my niece, Brittany, for holding my heart.

"To Ms. Jefferys, I'm sorry. I don't know if it means anything, Ms. Jefferys, but from the bottom of my heart, I mean that. I'm sorry.

"To the Colemans – Cathy, I don't see her here, but you all tell Cathy I'm sorry. I mean that.

"John (Everett), I hope you can let it go, man and forgive me. You hear me, John? I'm done. That's it."

Randy and Benny Coleman, brothers of John Coleman, sat next to each other during the execution. Randy held a dated picture of three men -- who appeared to be the three brothers -- posing outside in a neighborhood.

Everett sat beside Randy Coleman and shook his hand after a curtain was pulled across the window while medical staff checked Davie's vital signs about eight minutes after he let out his last visible breath.

In front of the Coleman brothers and Everett sat Jefferys' mother, Sandra Richmond, and her husband, Kenny Richmond. At Davie's clemency hearing last month, Sandra Richmond showed a picture of her daughter taken four months before the murder. She said her daughter was a friendly person who would buy Davie lunch and loan him her car. Richmond told the clemency board she wanted justice for her daughter's murder.
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Contrite killer put to death

Sandra Richmond said that in the 19 years since Roderick Davie killed her daughter, she had never seen or heard him express any remorse.

Tuesday morning, just minutes before Davie died from a mandated lethal injection at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility in Lucasville, that changed.

Davie, who admitted to and was convicted of killing Richmond's daughter Tracey Jefferys and John Coleman and of seriously injuring John Everett on June 29, 1991, turned to Richmond, Everett and members of the Coleman family and told them that he was sorry.

Davie, 38, was pronounced dead at 10:31 a.m. Tuesday. He became the 40th death row inmate to be executed since 1999, when the state reinstated the death penalty, and the seventh this year.

In his final statement Davie thanked his parents for "their unconditional love and support throughout all of this," his daughter, Paris, for helping him "become a man and change" and his niece Brittany for holding his heart.

"To Ms. Jefferys, I'm sorry," he said. "I don't know if it means anything Ms. Jefferys, but from the bottom of my heart, I mean that. I'm sorry."

He apologized to the Colemans. Then to Everett he said:

"John, I hope you can let it go man and forgive me. You hear me, John?"

Five of them waited and watched, in solidarity, as the man who had invaded their paths, stolen their loved ones and changed their lives forever gasped his last breath, exhaling into death and dying in front of them.

Everett, Jefferys' mother and stepfather, Kenneth Richmond, and Benny and Randy Coleman, brothers of victim John Coleman, have stood together since the attack that left Jefferys and Coleman dead and Everett shot and severely wounded.

On Tuesday the close-knit group sat together quietly and almost still for close to 30 minutes as the monitors in the witness room lit up to allow witnesses to see prison medical staff prepare Davie for the injection. At one point Davie, who was lying motionless for much of the process, looked at his arm and then at the prison staff before focusing his eyes upward.

He had been read the death warrant at 9:45 a.m. Just 17 steps separated his holding cell from the death chamber. Once prepared for the execution he was escorted to the death chamber, where witnesses could see him through a large glass window. He was strapped to a gurney and given his last chance to speak. The witnesses looked on as Davie uttered his last words.

Davie continued looking toward the glass. His lips continued to move, although witnesses were not able to hear him. With his face still turned toward the witnesses, he closed his eyes. Other than the large, audible, gasping sound he made, he seemed to simply go to sleep.

The curtain was drawn and reopened as he was pronounced dead. The witnesses remained in the room for several minutes afterward, barely moving, saying nothing. Sandra Richmond held the hands of her husband and Miriam Fife, Trumbull County Victims advocate, who sat next to her on left. Sandra Richmond looked at the picture of her daughter that she wore and cried quietly.

The survivors declined to comment immediately after the execution. Later, however, they said they were satisfied justice had been served. Still, Randy Coleman explained there was no victory.

"There is no victory in death unless it's in Christ," he told reporters outside the prison.

He said the execution brought closure to the case, and that his family isn't cheering now that Davie is dead. He commented that his family feels no hostility toward Davie's family and if anything the experience should bring all of the families involved closer.

Prison staff said Davie was quiet and even seemed peaceful during the final hours before his death. He spent most of Monday evening and early Tuesday morning talking to his mother, Elaine, and daughter, Paris, on the telephone.

Because he was fasting for religious purposes, Davie declined to eat until after sundown on Monday, when he was served a vegetarian meal.

Although he requested there be no one present on his behalf to watch his death, he visited with his brother, William Davie Jr., and sister-in-law, Bridget Davie Monday night and Tuesday morning. He slept briefly, had several cups of coffee and sang to himself as he cleaned his cell.

He woke up about 5:30 a.m. Tuesday.

The personal belongings he kept with him included a Quran and a kufi cap, which is a brimless hat.

After his visit with family concluded about 8 a.m. Tuesday he wrote letters and spoke again with his daughter on the phone.

Throughout the process Davie declined visits from clergy and attorneys. He met briefly with a chaplain from the Ohio Department of Corrections, however.

Once the witnesses were present in the observation room, which is more like a large hallway, and Everett, the Richmonds and the Colemans were seated, the monitors were turned on for everyone to watch Davie for the final moments leading up to his execution.

The 10 minutes or so from the time Davie was injected seemed to crawl slowly as witnesses watched in silence. Movement in the room remained still other than the soft cries that escaped Sandra Richmond's lips as she rocked back and forth in her chair, nodding as if in agreement with everything taking place.

Next to her sat her husband, Kenneth, who looked up only briefly, with his eyes fixed downward most of the time as prison staff prepared Davie for his execution and escorted him into the death chamber.

Everett remained stoic throughout, never flinching, seldom blinking and never taking his eyes off Davie, from the time he could see him on the monitor until after Davie was pronounced dead.

The setting was a stark contrast to the traumatic experience Everett has shared with family, friends, authorities and news reporters of the day of Davie's rampage against him and the others. Davie killed Coleman with several handgun blasts, beat Jefferys to death with a folding chair and shot Everett three times at VCA Warehouse on Main Avenue in Warren. Davie had been fired from the warehouse three months earlier.

Without saying a word Everett, the Richmonds and the Colemans left the room and exited the prison, all part of a process Everett has said would allow them to "close the chapter" on this part of their lives.

Prison officials said Davie's body would be delivered to his family.

Vigil held for killer, victims

By MARLY KOSINSKI

Tribune Chronicle

WARREN - When he was young, Roderick Davie was stung on his backside by a hornet after he disturbed a nest while pruning some bushes in front of his house on Maple Street.

"I told him to put some toothpaste on it to take the stinger out. He did, and he was back at it a little while later," Eugene Dawson said.

Dawson was among about eight families from Maple Street who gathered Tuesday at Tod's Crossing for a candlelight vigil for Davie, 38, who was executed Tuesday by lethal injection for the murders of John Coleman and Tracey Jefferys and the attempted murder of John Everett in 1991.

Dawson, who has lived on Maple Street for nearly 50 years, said the Davies were good neighbors and a good family, and he is not sure how Roderick's life got so off track.

Most of the people in attendance at Tuesday's vigil knew Davie, but they also prayed for the families of Coleman, Jefferys and Everett.

"I have known the Davies all their lives. This situation was tragic for them as well as for the families of his victims," said Maggie Raimey, president of the Tod's Crossing tenant association.

The Rev. David Grant of the Church of God and True Holiness in Cleveland said he did not know the families, but he loves to pray and came to the vigil because 6th Ward Councilwoman Cheryl Saffold invited him.

"The whole community suffers when a tragedy like this occurs. So we need to pray for the community to heal," Grant said.

The Rev. Ben Hurt of Greater Apostolic Faith Church on Tod Avenue N.W. said the community needs to pour out love on all the families.

"We are living in a generation that has turned away from God. If we pray together, God will change things," Hurt said.

Saffold said Davie was her neighbor as a child and Coleman was a close friend.

"This tragedy was personal for me, but I believe love permeates all tragedy," Saffold said.

Warren Safety-Service Director Doug Franklin said Coleman helped raise him and was a mentor to him.

"His family is hurting today along with Davie's family," Franklin said.

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