Suspect, 32-year-old Xavier Davis, forced his way into the Houston, Texas home of 35-year-old Gregory Carhee, and 29-year-old Donyavia Lagway and shot the couple in front of their three children.
He then shot the couple’s 6-year-old daughter Harmony Carhee in the head as well as her 10-year-old sister, who played dead after suffering a non-fatal wound.
The 10-year-old girl then watched as Davis ransacked the apartment looking for money and jewelry to steal, Harris County District Attorney Sean Teare said during a 2022 bail hearing in the case.
Teare also said the child had to lay lifeless while Davis made a video call to the woman accused of hiring him to kill the family so she could see the carnage.
Davis spared the life of the couple’s 2-year-old son, while a fourth child – an 8-year-old boy – was not home at the time of the murders.
The autopsy report for Lagway also revealed that she was pregnant at the time of the murder.
Police said that once Davis left the apartment, the surviving 10-year-old quickly grabbed her baby brother, locked the door and called for help.
Police arrested Davis just a few days later and charged him with three counts of capital murder and a single count of aggravated assault, court records show.
He also faced a count of aggravated robbery with a deadly weapon for allegedly stealing a man’s car at gunpoint just before he murdered the family.
Davis initially entered a not guilty plea but, in a surprise twist, pleaded guilty to the capital murder charges just a few minutes into the start of his criminal trial.
The trial proceeded as planned despite that plea, with jurors left to decide if Davis should be sentenced to death.
In another unanimous decision, the jury also found that there were not “sufficient mitigating circumstances” that would warrant a punishment of life in prison over the death penalty.
That concludes the first half of the criminal proceedings for the family’s murder, with the second half set to start later this year.
Prosecutors now have their sights set on the woman who allegedly ordered the murders, Alexus Williams.
She was arrested in March 2022 and is facing charges including three counts of capital murder and aggravated assault with a deadly weapon.
“Alexus Williams, had a prior dating relationship with one of the victims, Ms. Lagway, and they had broken up shortly before the shootings,” police said in a news release at the time of her arrest.
“Investigators learned Williams arranged the robbery and suspect Davis was the shooter. Williams and Davis had been friends since they were children.”
Williams has entered a plea of not guilty to all charges.
Court filings show that Davis is appealing his death sentence. He cannot appeal his conviction since he entered a guilty plea to those charges.
