A man charged with shooting his father in the head while he lay in bed pled No Contest to Second-Degree Murder Monday and was sentenced to 45 years in prison, State Attorney Larry Basford announced.
Tyler Moore Davis, 29, was charged with the Sept. 22, 2022, murder of his father, Julian Clifton Davis, Jr., 54. The victim was shot in his bed inside his Panama City Beach home. Circuit Court Judge Timothy Register adjudicated the defendant guilty and sentenced him to 45 years in prison. The first 25 years are minimum-mandatory.
Prosecutor Peter Overstreet was prepared to present evidence and witnesses in the case made by Bay County Sheriff’s Office investigators that the defendant shot the victim in his bed and then fled.
“It’s hard to imagine the emotions the family has endured in this case,” Overstreet said. “This outcome gave the family, which approved the plea, the justice they sought without the additional burden of a trial. I hope it helps them find some peace.”
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He was captured later that day by the Forsyth County, Ga., Sheriff’s Office SWAT team. The defendant, who had been living in Forsyth County, admitted to shooting his father. He also told investigators he had hidden the murder weapon, a 9mm Glock, in his Georgia home. Investigators retrieved it.
Testing by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement showed it was the gun that fired a spent casing found at the scene of the crime. Also in the defendant’s home, investigators found ammun
Basford thanked the Bay County Sheriff’s Office and authorities in Forsyth County for their work on the case.
For more information, contact Mike Cazalas at mike.cazalas@sa14.fl.gov, or call 850-381-7454.