EAST ST. LOUIS, IL — A 16-year-old boy accused of killing five of his girlfriend’s family members in downstate Illinois removed her grandmother’s thumb and kept it in order to access the woman’s phone, according to reports.
Ja’ymier Davis is charged with five counts of first-degree murder, dismembering a human body and other felonies in the East St. Louis weekend killings, according to police, who added the St. Clair County state’s attorney will request the girl’s case be moved to adult criminal court.
Citing prosecutors on Wednesday, FOX 2 News reported 74-year-old Patricia May’s thumb was discovered in the center console of the boy’s vehicle and was used to access her iPhone. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that Patricia May was the grandmother of Davis’ 15-year-old girlfriend.
FOX 2 News reported 49-year-old Cherie May’s remains were found in a tote bag behind a dumpster at the Samuel Gompers Housing Development and that she is believed to have been killed days before the violence Sunday. Cherie May was the girl's aunt, according to the Post-Dispatch.
The other deceased victims include 25-year-old Shania W. Thompson, 24-year-old Devin May and 21-year-old Quentin L. Thompson, according to police. Two other victims were injured in the shootings and taken to local hospitals.
Devin and Patricia May were killed after they couldn’t reach Cherie May and went to her apartment, surprising the teen couple, with Davis shooting Devin May in the head and the girl luring Patricia May to the apartment from the car outside, FOX 2 News reported.
The killings occurred across two homes and a local park, according to the outlet.
Davis’ attorney said the boy acted in self-defense and “was not the hunter but rather the hunted,” FOX 2 News reported.
The girl's father told the Post-Dispatch she had a falling out with her parents due to being moved to homeschooling after getting into trouble at school. Marcus May said his daughter had previously run away from home and stolen her mother's debit card, and the girl had also stolen her mother's gun and run away again last week, according to the newspaper.
Her father told the Post-Dispatch she plotted the slayings with her boyfriend, discussing them ahead of time in a group chat with Davis and other teens.
Instagram messages between the girl and her boyfriend shared by prosecutors included one in she wrote she was “finna lose my whole family for you,” according to FOX 2 News.
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