Louisiana man sentenced to life for murder at railroad crossing in Raywood

Convicted murderer Henry Davis III showed no remorse and no emotion as he listened to the harrowing testimonies of those impacted by his crime as his three-day trial wrapped up this week in the 75th State District Courtroom of The Honorable Mark Morefield in Liberty County. On Wednesday, Davis was sentenced by a jury to life in prison for the Oct. 4, 2020, murder of Markie McGinnis, 29, of Spring.

His eyes betrayed no guilt, and his face, partially concealed by dreadlocks grown out while in jail, remained a stony mask as witnesses recalled the events of Oct. 4.

McGinnis was shot to death while sitting in her vehicle at the railroad crossing off of SH 90 at FM 2830, just a short distance from her parents’ home in Raywood. Witnesses for the prosecution spoke about how McGinnis’ last moments were looking up to see Davis as he fired three .40 caliber bullets through the window of her Kia Soul vehicle, one of the bullets striking her in the face and two others striking her in other parts of her body.

There was no motive for the murder. Davis and McGinnis did not know each other and the incident was not sparked by road rage. Davis simply wanted to kill. After the crime, he made efforts to conceal his vehicle, an Acura Integra, and discarded the weapon, which still hasn’t been recovered to this day.

The crime likely would have gone unsolved if not for another driver sensing that something was suspicious as he and his family passed the murder scene. The witness, an Army reservist from the Kingwood area, gave convincing testimony during the trial about driving eastbound along US 90 and seeing two vehicles – a Kia Soul and an Acura Integra – parked at the railroad crossing with one person standing at the driver’s side window of the Kia Soul.

He testified that he watched in his rearview mirror as the Acura Integra entered the eastbound lane and quickly passed him on the shoulder of the road. Finding this behavior even more suspicious, he said he asked his wife to jot down the license plate of the vehicle, which had a Louisiana registration.

The Army reservist, who has 28 years of military experience, and his family continued on to Beaumont to check on a rental property they own. On their way home to Kingwood a couple of hours later, they passed by the murder scene, which at this point was roped off with crime scene tape and investigators were present. The witness stopped and shared the license plate with the investigators, who then traced the vehicle to Davis. By this time, Davis had left the vehicle at a hospital a short distance from his home in Terrytown, Louisiana, southeast of New Orleans. The vehicle wasn’t discovered in the hospital parking lot until several months later and long after Davis had been arrested and transported back to Liberty County to face the charge of murder.

Prosecuting the case for the Liberty County District Attorney’s Office was Court Chief Anna Emmons and Assistant District Attorney Kayla Hebert. As the firearm was never recovered, a ballistics check to match the gun to the bullets used in the murder was not possible. This meant that the case had to rely heavily on old-fashioned police work and a skilled prosecution. Together, they tracked Davis to a Marriott Hotel in Houston the night before the shooting. Surveillance video from the hotel parking lot and main areas showed Davis leaving the hotel Sunday morning, Oct. 4, wearing a tactical vest, similar to those worn by the military or police. He also was wearing a red bandanna over his face.

Additional surveillance video was taken from several businesses along SH 90 in Liberty, including the former BJ Ford. The videos showed the vehicles of McGinnis, Davis, the Army reservist and another witness as they drove eastbound. Another video showed that the vehicles of McGinnis and Davis dropped out of the line-up as she turned onto FM 2830. Other videos taken from stores in Raywood and Devers showed Davis’ vehicle reentering the lineup after the murder was committed.

Shell casings recovered from the scene matched those found inside of Davis’ bedroom when Louisiana police executed a search warrant. Clothing matching that seen in the videos from the hotel were also found in Davis’ home, as was the key fob for the Acura Integra.

As the Kia Soul’s driver-side window did not shatter and fall, even after the three bullets were fired through it, all blood from her injuries was contained to her car. This meant that forensic testing of Davis’ clothing could not be linked to McGinnis. However, one of his clothing items had two blood samples, one of which had no database match. The other blood sample was matched to Davis.

Gunshot residue was also found on Davis’ clothing. Prosecutors also were able to link Davis to the purchase of a .40-caliber handgun from a pawn shop in Louisiana.

When his vehicle was finally recovered from the hospital parking lot months after it went missing, inside the vehicle investigators found other .40-caliber bullets, the same brand used to kill McGinnis.

Davis’ defense attorneys Joseph Goins and Myrecia C. Donaldson tried to cast doubt on the evidence, suggesting that Davis was simply at the wrong place at the wrong time, and the murder was committed by another person.

“The only mistake that Mr. Davis made on Oct. 4 is that he became too inquisitive. He went up to the vehicle, saw the remains and took off,” said Goins. “He saw a dead body, became scared and he hauled butt. There are no connections between McGinnis and Mr. Davis. They didn’t know each other. They didn’t have each other’s phone numbers and were not connected through social media. In this country, thank God we don’t convict anybody on suspicion. You can only convict someone if the State proves beyond a reasonable doubt that they committed the offense.”

The jury, which was comprised of 11 men and one woman, took just over 90 minutes to convict Davis of murder. The trial then entered the punishment phase. Jurors heard from Liberty County Sheriff’s Sgt. John Bennett, a supervisor for the Liberty County Jail, who detailed two additional pending felony charges against Davis for having two makeshift weapons in the county jail. One of the weapons had a razor blade at the end and the other had a piece of metal that had been filed down to a sharp edge.

Goins tried to justify Davis’ possession of the weapons, suggesting that he had been attacked in jail. Bennett testified that Davis was lying about any attack.

The only witness offered to testify on Davis’ behalf was disqualified as she had sat in the courtroom throughout the trial, which went against the rules of the court. Goins, in his closing statement in the punishment phase, simply reminded the jury that nobody was injured or killed by the shank weapons that Davis had in his cell that were found during a shakedown.

Emmons, in her closing statement, said the weapons were proof that Davis does not know how to behave in society.

“The murder itself, all of that evidence you get to consider, the most frightening of the evidence is how random this killing was, how senseless this killing was, and that should scare you because it was frightening,” she said. “Markie was a good person. She did nothing wrong. She did not deserve this, and her family doesn’t deserve this. Now they are afraid to love, afraid to live. They are scared of the defendant getting out, and you can’t blame them … Sentence this defendant to life because he has earned it.”

Jurors then returned to the jury room to deliberate Davis’ sentence. An hour or so later, the buzzer in the courtroom went off – a sign that the jury had settled upon a sentence. After the life sentence was announced in the courtroom, the jurors were thanked and dismissed. However, many of them found their way to the back rows of the courtroom to hear Markie’s mother, Shelby McGinnis, bravely speak out about the immeasurable pain and suffering her family has endured since her murder.

She talked about the challenge of the defendant getting a fair trial while fairness was robbed from her daughter.

“I will never get to see her kiss her daddy on the cheek or see him kiss her before he gives her to her beloved. We will never see what she becomes throughout her life. Is it fair that we will never share in the trials and triumphs of a life well lived? Is it fair that I cannot speak to or hug my daughter, and this man can. We never even got to say goodbye,” McGinnis said. “is it fair that her sisters don’t get to raise children together, share secrets like sisters do. Is it fair that her influence won’t be felt by her nieces and nephews? Is it fair that her voice is silenced while he can still speak? is it fair that we woke up every morning for months and months with a shock to her system that our daughter was gone forever? Is it fair that she died completely alone, in fear, instead of surrounded by her family?”

Her mom explained how the family all looked forward to Sunday lunches together each week, but since her murder, they have found it difficult to carry on.

“My arms are empty, my table is empty. My life and heart have a large Markie-shaped hole, and they will, as long as I live. Loss doesn’t just happen once and then heal. Losing our child happens every day.”

Shelby McGinnis, mother of Markie McGinnis

Markie was two minutes from the safety of her parents’ home when she died, and family members must pass the place where she died nearly every.

“We have a hard time being happy now. I feel guilty for smiling and having a happy moment. I miss her smile. I miss her laugh, and I miss her smell,” said her mom, choking back tears. “I miss her randomly breaking out in songs into my kitchen. I miss her dance parties at barbecues. I miss car rides with us singing at the top of the lungs. I miss hearing about her day in our almost-nightly phone call, and I miss myself – the happy me who used to wake up every morning roaring and ready to go. I miss my husband’s silliness. I miss my family being whole. I could stand up here all day and tell you the things I miss. Our family’s innocence was not just stolen, but ripped out of our hands.”

The world now, instead of being full of opportunity and promise, looks like it is full of danger, she said.

“Today two families are devastated. Two mothers are going to go home tonight without their children. Two mothers will not hold grandchildren that they looked forward to. I know the day that you were born, your mom looked into your big brown eyes and saw endless possibilities. I know she did because that’s what I did when I looked into Markie’s eyes,” she said. “I want you to know that whatever your motive, you have failed miserably. What did you really accomplish? You brought more sorrow to a world that is full of it.  Not only did you not change the world, but you also wasted a precious life. You will lose your freedom and respectability and your power of choice. You will rot in jail, your youth wasted.”

The life sentence given to Davis is not a guarantee that he will spend the rest of his natural life in prison. He will be eligible for parole in 30 years, though it will be up to a parole board if he should be paroled.

District Attorney Jennifer Bergman said the life sentence will not bring Markie McGinnis back to her family, but she is pleased that justice was served in this case.

“He showed no remorse as they were leading him out of the courtroom. He showed no remorse during the entire trial, and it’s shocking to see such callous behavior. I want to thank Kayla, Anna and Glen Goodwin (DA investigator), the officers from the Sheriff’s Office, and everybody who poured their time and effort into making sure that we got a guilty verdict. The defendant will spend a good portion of the rest of his life in prison and our community is safe from this horrific predator. He is a cold-blooded killer,” Bergman said.