Larry Davis (born 1966)

Larry Davis
Davis mugshot taken by the New York City Police Department on January 20, 1986.
Born
Larry Davis

(1966-05-28)May 28, 1966
New York City, New York, U.S.
DiedFebruary 20, 2008(2008-02-20) (aged 41)
St. Luke's Hospital, Newburgh, New York, U.S.
Other namesAdam Abdul-Hakeem
(since 1989)
Known forShootout in the Bronx with New York City police in November 1986.
Conviction(s)
  • November 1988 – illegal gun possession
  • April 26, 1991 – murder
Criminal chargeMurder; aggravated assault and attempted murder
Penalty
  • November 1988 – 5 to 15 years
  • April 26, 1991 – 25 years
Capture status
Arrested
Wanted by
New York City Police Department
Wanted sinceNovember 19, 1986
Time at large
18 days
Details
CountryUnited States
State(s)New York
Location(s)
Imprisoned atShawangunk Correctional Facility

Larry Davis (May 28, 1966 – February 20, 2008), later known as Adam Abdul-Hakeem, was a man from New York City who gained notoriety in November 1986 for his shootout in the South Bronx with officers of the New York City Police Department, in which six officers were shot. Davis, asserting self-defense, was acquitted of all charges aside from illegal gun possession.[1][2] Davis was later convicted in April 1991 of a Bronx drug dealer's 1986 murder.[3] In 2008, Davis died via stabbing by a fellow inmate.[4]

On November 19, 1986, nine New York City police officers, with nearly 20 outside the building, raided the Bronx apartment of Davis's sister.[5] Davis escaped the ensuing shootout after a shotgun round creased his scalp, and all six officers who had been shot survived. Police explained the raid as an attempt to question Davis as a multiple-murder suspect, finally obtained an arrest warrant for that, and re-explained the raid as an attempt to arrest him.[6] On the 17th day of a massive manhunt, he was traced to a Bronx building, where he hid in an unknown family's unit.[7] Telephoned by the police, he claimed to hold its occupants hostage.[5] After tireless negotiations that lasted all night long, Davis was eventually convinced that the police officers would not shoot him because of all the media presence, so he then decided that it was time for him to surrender peacefully.[8]

Davis's legal defense, led by William Kunstler,[9] contended that the raid was a pretense to murder Davis for knowledge of officers' alleged complicity in illicit drug sales and to punish him for abandoning his own drug dealing under them.[1] In March 1988, on jury trial for a killing of four drug dealers—allegedly the 1986 raid's reason—Davis was acquitted.[2] Then, in November, as to the nine raiding and six shot officers, his acquittal of aggravated assault and attempted murder triggered widespread outrage.[4] About 1,000 New York City police officers publicly demonstrated.[5] Yet for many others, Davis became a folk hero.[10] Still others thought of him as an unsavory character, but probably truthful about the police and the shootout.[11]

Serving five to 15 years on the November 1988 convictions for illegal gun possession, Davis was acquitted of another alleged drug dealer's murder.[5] But in a third murder trial, about another alleged drug dealer, Davis was convicted,[1] and sentenced to 25 years to life.[12] After converting to Islam, he changed his name. Maintaining his innocence, he continued to allege that the police had framed him.[5] A prevalent view attributes his infamous acquittal, rather, to racial bias by a proverbial "Bronx jury."[3][13] But particularly with the Mollen Commission's 1990s exposure of widespread criminality, including drug dealing and violence, by New York City police officers,[14] and then a 2003 independent documentary favoring Davis's explanation, his story continues to provoke divided reactions.[11][15][16]

  1. ^ a b c Christina Jacqueline Johns & Jose Maria Borrero N., "The war on drugs: Nothing succeeds like failure", in Gregg Barak, ed., Crimes by the Capitalist State: An Introduction to State Criminality (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1991), p 72.
  2. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference NYT_1988-11-21 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ a b Marilyn Corsianos, The Complexities of Police Corruption: Gender, Identity, and Misconduct (Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, 2012), p 151.
  4. ^ a b McFadden, Robert D. (2008-02-22). "Slain in prison, but once celebrated as a fugitive". The New York Times. Retrieved 2008-02-23.
  5. ^ a b c d e Robert Louden, "Davis, Larry (1966–2008)", pp 142–145, in Delores D. Jones-Brown, Beverly D. Frazier & Marvie Brooks, editors, African Americans and Criminal Justice: An Encyclopedia (Santa Barbara, CA: Greenwood/ABC-CLIO, 2014).
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference :1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Purdum, Todd S. (1986-12-07). "Friends helped Davis to stay in shadow". The New York Times. Retrieved 2007-12-16. Larry Davis eluded an intensive manhunt for 17 days by relying on a network of street friends and family contacts who gave him money and shelter as he slipped from place to place in the Bronx and upper Manhattan, law-enforcement officials said yesterday.
  8. ^ McFadden, Robert D. (1986-12-07). "Cornered in manhunt, Davis surrenders in Bronx". The New York Times.
  9. ^ Jeffrey Rosen, "The trials of William Kunstler", New York Times, 18 Sep 1994, § 7, p 16.
  10. ^ Freedman, Samuel G. (1987-01-02). "To some, Davis is a 'hero' amid attacks on blacks". The New York Times. Retrieved 2008-02-23.
  11. ^ a b Rosemary L. Bray, "Blacks on blues", New York, 1994 Jul 11;27(27):33–35, p 35.
  12. ^ Cite error: The named reference NYT_1991-04-26 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  13. ^ Stephan Thernstrom & Abigail Thernstrom, America in Black and White: One Nation, Indivisible (New York: Touchstone, 1999), p 517.
  14. ^ Leonard Levitt, NYPD Confidential: Power and Corruption in the Country's Greatest Police Force (New York: Thomas Dunne Books, 2009), indexing "Mollen Commission". In contemporary journalism, Craig Wolff, "Tales of police corruption not surprising, 46th Precinct residents say", New York City, 10 Oct 1993, reports, in part, "The 46th Precinct is in the Fordham section of the Bronx. It is a crime-ridden precinct where, the Mollen Commission was told, some of the department's worst officers were commonly 'dumped.' And it is where 'the Mechanic' worked, a convicted officer who earned the nickname for the tune-ups,' or beatings, he performed on drug suspects and innocent bystanders alike. The Police Department says there is no policy of using any precinct, including the 46th, as a place of exile for troublesome officers". Nearly two years later, Clifford Krauss, "Police officer convicted of extorting payoffs", New York Times, 21 Apr 1995, reports that perhaps some 30 officers in the 46th Precinct were involved in various criminal activity in the community.
  15. ^ Cite error: The named reference Reed was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  16. ^ Cite error: The named reference :0 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).