Charge dropped in 1990 cold case after murder suspect dies in prison, Florida cops say
A 70-year-old man indicted for murder in the brutal 1990 killing of a minister’s wife had his case dismissed due to an unexpected development, Florida investigators say.
Roland T. Davis Sr. died of an undisclosed medical issue in an Ohio prison, making the planned extradition and trial in Florida a moot point, the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office reported in a Nov. 13 news release.
Davis was a convicted killer when he was indicted in 2022 for stabbing 42-year-old Sharon Marie Gill 39 times in the master bedroom of her Florida home, the sheriff’s office reports.
Gill was killed March 21, 1990, and had only recently moved to the Deep Creek community in Port Charlotte, officials say. Deep Creek is about 100 miles south of Tampa.
“Sharon ... was to be joined by her husband Percy Gill after he finished work in Michigan. Percy was a minister in Detroit,” investigators say. “Sharon was found deceased by her 18-year-old daughter Krista, when she returned home from school.”
DNA found on a towel near Gill’s body was linked to Davis in 2020, officials said. Suspicions of his involvement were heightened when investigators learned he worked for a company that did landscaping on Gill’s property in December 1989, officials said.
“The Cold Case Team located a former worker and asked directly about Davis. The team discovered Roland T. Davis Sr. had worked on the Gill home a couple of days and the manager was unaware that he had worked those days,” the sheriff’s office said.
“After learning his identity, Detectives Mike Vogel and Kurt Mehl interviewed Davis in the Chillicothe Correctional Institute. Davis denied the murder but acknowledged he did work on the landscaping at the Gill home. He denied ever entering the house.”
Davis was indicted for Gill’s killing on Aug. 3, 2022, and he was expected to stand trial, Charlotte County officials said. The charge was dropped Nov. 3 due to his death.
He was in Chillicothe Correctional Institute awaiting execution for the 2000 stabbing of 86-year-old Elizabeth Sheeler, officials said.
“Davis was a cab driver and provided cab service to Ms. Sheeler on several occasions,” the sheriff’s office said. “He was found guilty of killing Ms. Sheeler in her home in Newark, Ohio, after DNA discovered at the scene was linked to Davis.”
This story was originally published November 15, 2023 at 10:55 AM with the headline "Charge dropped in 1990 cold case after murder suspect dies in prison, Florida cops say."