Ande Davis, exonerated in July 2012 for the rape and murder of a three-year-old girl in 1980, was charged in a new Illinois killing on Thursday.
Prosecutors say Davis, 53, murdered 19-year-old Jamal Harmon last year, after Harmon got into an argument with Davis' nephew over a dice game.
Harmon's murder occurred in October 2013, when Davis and Harmon attended a party at the nephew's house on the 6500 block of South Ross Ave. on Chicago's South Side. Harmon and Davis' nephew began arguing about who was owed money in a dice game, and the nephew shot Harmon outside the home.
A witness told authorities that he helped Davis put Harmon into the trunk of a Cadillac, and that Harmon was still alive and "making sounds" at the time. The witness also reported that Davis told the partygoers that he was going to find a place to dump the body.
Harmon was found later that day in an alley on the 7600 block of South Carpenter St., Assistant State Attorney Robert Mack told the court, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. Harmon suffered gunshot wounds to the face, neck, and armpit, and four stab wounds. An autopsy by the Cook County medical examiner confirmed that the cause of death was homicide.
The day after the murder, Mack said, Davis told someone that he cut Harmon's throat.
Davis was charged with first-degree murder and felony kidnapping. He also had two outstanding warrants for bond forfeiture. He is being held without bond.
When he was 19, Davis was convicted of the rape and murder of Brianna Stickle—a child who lived next door to a friend of Davis in Rantoul, Illinois.
Davis remained in prison on the January 1981 conviction until the Center on Wrongful Convictions secured his release based on DNA evidence. The Champaign County State Attorney's Office dismissed the charges against Davis in July 2012.
Since his release, he has been charged with attempted murder, unlawful discharge of a weapon, two counts of aggravated battery, and two DUIs.
