Gregory Davis charged with first-degree murder after Marion police find body of Carrie Davis

CEDAR RAPIDS - Police say Carrie Davis was dead for several days before her body was discovered Monday outside a rental home on Hillview Drive near Hanna Park in Marion.

On Tuesday, Gregory Davis, 27, of Marion, was charged with first-degree murder in her death. Though Carrie, 29, and Gregory share a last name, police said the two were not related or married. However, Marion Police Chief Joseph McHale said the two were in a romantic relationship and recently had moved into another rental property at 1280 14th St. in Marion.

According to a criminal complaint, Gregory Davis told police he stabbed and killed Carrie Davis on or about Sept. 28 at the 14th Street home. Police, following a request for a welfare check, discovered Carrie Davis' body at about 9:15 a.m. Monday, said Tom Daubs, a police spokesman. According to the criminal complaint, her body had been wrapped in blankets and carpet and placed onto a utility trailer at the Hillview Drive home, which is owned by Gregory Davis' parents and currently is vacant.

McHale said he believes the trailer was used before Sept. 28 and he assumes Carrie Davis' body was transported on it to the Hillview Drive home. Police found the body with eight stab wounds to the back, as well as other injuries, according to the criminal complaint.

The homicide is the first in Marion since April 2015 when Lynnsey Donald, 29, was stabbed to death in the parking lot of the Hy-Vee store. Nicholas Luerkens, 35, was convicted of first-degree murder in November 2015, but the conviction was overturned and Luerkens was granted a new trial by the Iowa Court of Appeals in May. The Court of Appeals ruled the trial judge should have allowed the jury to consider an insanity defense in the case.

Following a request last week for a change of venue, a judge on Tuesday scheduled Luerkens' second trial to begin on March 19 in Scott County District Court.

Arraignment

If convicted of killing Carrie Davis - who is from Columbus, Ohio - Gregory Davis faces an automatic life sentence. He is being held on a $2 million cash bond set Tuesday during his arraignment in Linn County District Court.

Appearing via video at his arraignment, Davis appeared to state he was impaired when the crime took place. Judge Nicholas Scott asked him if he would need a court-appointed attorney or would be hiring his own lawyer.

'I don't know,” Davis said. 'I was on drugs.”

Scott stopped Davis before he could say any more.

Linn County Public Defender Brian Sissel, who sat with Davis during his appearance, said the public defender's office would take his case. Sissel said they likely will seek a review of his bond at a later date.

When asked if McHale believes Davis was under the influence of any substances, McHale said he didn't know for sure but that 'there are some concerns there.”

McHale also said Davis' parents are helping police in the ongoing investigation.

'It's a bad day for Marion,” McHale said. 'It's a really bad day for the family of the victim. It's just something we're going to have to push through and move past.”

'Risk-taker”

Duncan Fairchild, of Columbus, Ohio, said he and Carrie Davis' family members asked her not to move to Marion with Gregory Davis.

Carrie Davis and Fairchild have a daughter together and dated for about five years before she and Davis began a relationship at the end of March 2017, Fairchild said. He said he remained close to Gregory Davis, having worked with him doing landscaping in Iowa and Ohio for about six years.

Fairchild said he considers Davis a 'risk-taker,” and prone to quick mood swings.

'One minute he's cool, the next minute he's flipping out,” Fairchild said. 'He was always pushing limits to see what he could get away with.”

Fairchild said he doesn't want Davis to get off easy.

'He's not going to play no ‘I was on drugs, I was insane role to get out of this,' ” Fairchild said. 'I'm going to go to the hearings to tell everyone how this dude was when he was sober, how he was when he was high, who he was. We have a 3-year-old daughter together that now has no mother because he wanted to play God.

'When I get her back here, I have to explain to my daughter why her mother's in a box.”

Reporter Lee Hermiston contributed to this report.