Crime & Safety
'Don't Make A Villain' Of Plainfield Shooting Suspect: Brother
James Eric Davis Jr. is accused in the shooting deaths of his parents on the Central Michigan University campus.

MOUNT PLEASANT, MI – The older brother of a Plainfield 19-year-old accused in the deaths of his parents made a plea over the weekend: "Please don't make a villain of my brother." James Eric Davis Jr., a Plainfield Central graduate who also attended Plainfield South, was taken into custody early Saturday, accused of shooting his parents, James Eric Davis Sr. and Diva Jeneen Davis, to death in his dorm room at Central Michigan University.
Over the weekend, his brother, doctoral divinity student Russell Matthew Davis, took to Facebook to ask that people pray for his parents and also for his little brother. "It's so surreal, I'm in shock and even in denial," wrote Russell Davis. "It's a hard pill to swallow, a heavy load to bear. I can't wrap my mind around this, nor make any sense of this ..."
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Davis also stressed that he still loves his brother and "I want him safe, supported and prayed for just like my sister ... and I." Russell Davis added, "Please don’t make a villain of my brother... that is NOT who he is... and despite the circumstances, he also lost a mother and father... And I LOVE him."
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James Eric Davis Jr. was taken into custody early Saturday after a witness spotted him near railroad tracks on the CMU campus and notified authorities. Over the weekend, CMU police held a press conference, giving a timeline of events leading up to the shooting and saying they believe the teen used a gun belonging to his father, a police officer in suburban Cook County. The campus was on lockdown Friday as authorities search for Davis Jr. a sophomore student at the university.
Image via City of Mt. Pleasant Public Safety Department
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