A Louisa County jury on Saturday found a Powhattan County man guilty of murder for shooting and killing a roommate and leaving the man’s body beside a rural county road in 2019.
After a four-day trial, jurors found Anthony Davenport, Jr., 25, guilty of first degree murder for killing Terrell Bailey, 23. Davenport was also convicted of using a firearm in committing a felony and concealing a dead body.
Davenport is scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 5. He faces up to life in prison.
The case began on June 22, 2019 when Bailey’s body was found in Louisa by a farmhand checking a mailbox along the pastoral East Green Springs Road. Five days later, Davenport was arrested in Poughkeepsie, New York at a relative’s house.
Investigators said there was no indication that the relatives were aware that police were seeking Davenport.
In Poughkeepsie, Davenport was arrested on charges of malicious wounding and robbery for a June 9 incident in Powhatan County. That charge was dropped in 2020 as the Louisa County charges continued. It was that incident that helped lead investigators to Davenport.
“On June 9, 2019, Davenport came to believe that one of his roommates stole from him and attacked that roommate with a baseball bat. On June 18, 2019, he apologized to that victim and told him that he realized another roommate, Terrell Bailey, stole from him,” Louisa County Commonwealth’s Attorney Rusty McGuire said in a Monday statement, retelling the evidence presented against Davenport.
Testimony at the trial showed Davenport woke Bailey around 10 p.m. on June 18, 2019, told him he had to move out and to pack his things. Davenport left with Bailey, saying he would put Bailey up in a hotel for the night.
Bailey was not seen again until his body was found.
Cell phone evidence put Davenport near the remote county location where Bailey’s body was found, McGuire said, and Bailey’s blood was found on several items recovered in a search of Davenport’s car. Investigators said they also found evidence of Davenport attempting to clean the car’s interior and to replace the front passenger seat.
“The defendant killed Terrell Bailey in cold-blood over the perceived theft of a few missing items. Fortunately, a thorough investigation and detailed forensic analysis led to the apprehension of the killer,” said Louisa County Deputy Commonwealth’s Attorney Robert Wood, in a statement.
The case was investigated by the Louisa County Sheriff’s Office, Spotsylvania County Sheriff’s Office, Powhatan County Sheriff’s Office, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the United States Marshal’s Service.
Investigators said they kept quiet on the discovery of Bailey’s body for several days to allow them to build a case and seek arrest warrants without making Davenport aware that he was wanted and causing him to run.
Bailey had only a few months before moved to Powhatan, renting a room in a home with Davenport, officers said. He communicated often by cell phone and text with his parents who worried when he didn’t contact them for two days and filed a missing person report.
His family described Bailey as “very forgiving” and friendly, a Dallas Cowboys fan and high school athlete who played football.
Source: www.dailyprogress.com
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