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Joshua Davis was just 16 when he was killed. His death remains a mystery.
Joshua Davis would have turned 22 this past year, but in her heart, Judy Creech still sees her son as being 16.
“Then I look at Alyssa (Josh’s younger sister) who is going on 21 and wonder how she can be going on 21 when he’s still 16,” she said.
Josh was killed while standing by the roadside on a cold January night in 2004. His death remains a mystery.
“I kissed my son goodbye at 6:45. By 7:05 he was dead,” she said.
Josh was walking with his friend, Michael Morong, from his mother’s house at 1512 Hall Boulevard to his father’s house on 206 Tiffany Circle. About half way there, Morong ran back to Creech’s house for a compact disk he had forgot and when he returned a few minutes later, Josh was lying near the side of road. He was unresponsive and was transported to WakeMed where he died from head injuries.
Sometimes, Creech visualizes her only son sitting high up in Heaven on a fluffy cloud. Other times, to be able to cope, she pretends he’s still at school where he’s safe from all harm and by thinking that, she can take care of her family and her home.
There are also the quieter times when she lies in her bed pretending she’s holding Josh.
But then the nighttime creeps in and with the darkness often comes reality and Creech said she falls asleep wondering for the millionth time who or what killed her son and why.
“He will always, forever, forever be in my heart and head,” said Creech. “I want to know who took my son’s life and changed my life forever.
“I just want to go to bed at night and say, ‘This is what happened.’“ New tip
Over the years since Josh’s death, new tips have constantly come in to the family and to the police but so far, none have produced answers.
However, recently the family received a tip from a man who says he knows what happened to Josh on Jan. 6, 2004.
The tipper said his now-estranged wife told him last year that she was driving a vehicle that night and had two male passengers. She told him they were smoking pot and driving around when one of the males said, “There’s that guy,” and told her to pull up next to Josh.
The tipper then said his wife told him she swerved over close to him and her passenger reached out the window and hit Josh with a baseball bat. After that, the driver sped away.
Josh’s father, Dave Davis, has repeatedly said he believed his son was struck by a baseball bat. But despite the fact that the four psychics Davis hired all told him his son was killed by someone reaching out the back window and hitting Josh with a baseball bat, he’s reluctant to get his hopes up again.
“My biggest concern is for what David and Judy have to go through every time something like this comes to light,” said Darla Kelly, Davis’ mother. “They have been through so much stress and it has affected them both physically and emotionally. They need it to end.” The investigation
After exhausting most leads, the Garner Police Department hired a private forensics firm to work on the case which included re-creating the scene and examining wounds and blood spatter to narrow possibilities of how Josh could have been killed.
“The forensic experts were successful in providing specific information as to the timeline immediately prior to the death as well as a careful analysis of the wounds received and an interpretation of the blood spatter in this case,” said former Chief Tom Moss in a previous interview.
“We were able to finally determine, based on the information, that it was, in fact, a vehicle-pedestrian crash.”
The chief medical examiner’s office reviewed the GPD’s findings and re-classified Josh’s death as a motor vehicle hit and run accident.
“It could be that the person involved in the traffic crash may not have initially seen Josh on the street, but clearly the impact was of a nature that the driver knew or should have known that he hit someone or something on the evening in question,” said Moss. “Josh Davis was likely struck by a mirror, bumper or some other object affixed to the vehicle.”
But does that really make sense?
Davis said he doesn’t buy the accident theory.
“There’s no way in my mind that I think that because he was on the opposite side of the road on a 25-mile per hour street,” he stated.
According to records, Josh’s shoes were still on, there were no tears in his clothing, and the two books he was carrying were stacked beside of him. There was no broken glass or debris from a vehicle either on Josh or in the surrounding area.
A preliminary assessment by a medical examiner showed that Josh died of a glancing blow to the head by a blunt object.
After Josh’s death, Jon Blum, former PIO with the GPD said, “We have no idea the instrument that was used or what caused the injury at this time. The initial evidence leads us to believe that this was not a pedestrian hit by a car or a traffic crash.”
Josh’s puzzling death has left a trail of unanswered questions along with a multitude of bizarre twists that constantly fuel innuendoes and speculation.
Over the years, many different theories have circulated around town. Some are plausible. Some are ludicrous. Everyone has a favorite theory, which in turn triggers even more speculation. But the bottom line is someone knows someone who knows something.
Reportedly, shortly before Josh died he told a friend he was in fear of his life, stating the “skater-boys” were going to get him. There were rumors that several guys had problems with him and wanted revenge because of a girl that he had been talking to.
Like all others, the latest tip is under investigation and Creech says she prays the family will finally get answers.
“Then I’ll see Josh sitting on that cloud saying, ‘Mama, it’s about time.’”
Anyone with information about the case is urged to call Garner police at 919-772-8810 or the State Bureau of Investigation at 800- 334-3000.
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