Robert Davis, the 19-year-old accused of killing Josh Kruger, has additionally been charged with trying to shoot somebody at a SEPTA station in September.
Davis was arrested final week and charged with homicide after police mentioned he entered the house of Kruger, 39, earlier this month and shot him 3 times, killing him.
Court docket data present he now faces a string of further expenses, together with aggravated assault and unlawful gun possession, stemming from a taking pictures at SEPTA’s Tasker-Morris station on Sept. 25 — simply days earlier than he allegedly killed Kruger.
In line with the affidavit of possible trigger for his arrest, Davis approached a person from behind on the platform round 5 a.m. and “tried to achieve round him. When the person tried to battle again, the report says, Davis pulled a gun from his waistband and fired it as soon as within the man’s course. Nobody was struck, and Davis fled the station, the affidavit mentioned.
A detective with SEPTA Transit Police recovered surveillance video displaying that Davis fled west on Tasker Avenue, in line with the affidavit. As he walked by means of the South Philadelphia neighborhood, a number of movies appeared to point out him “at occasions trying to interrupt into vehicles and homes,” in line with the report.
He was additionally carrying a blue duffle bag, the affidavit mentioned. Detectives recovered it the subsequent day amongst a pile of trash, and inside was a pc monitor, onerous drive, keyboard, and a damaged hover board, the doc mentioned. Police additionally recovered fingerprints from one of many vehicles he allegedly tried to interrupt into, however it’s unclear whether or not they had been a match to Davis.
Transit detectives didn’t make the connection to Davis till Oct. 6, when Philadelphia Police issued a warrant for his arrest and shared a photograph of him that “strongly resembled” the person who fired the gun on the platform, the data say. SEPTA police then confirmed that photograph to the sufferer from the station, and he recognized Davis as his attacker.
The brand new expenses add additional complexities to Davis’ background and story in relation to Kruger’s killing.
Davis’ mom and older brother have mentioned Davis and Kruger had been in a intercourse and drug-filled relationship since Davis was simply 15. The household has mentioned Davis informed them Kruger had been making an attempt to blackmail him with sexually express movies of him earlier than police say Davis killed him. His mom has mentioned that whereas she doesn’t condone the violence, she believes her son is a sufferer, too.
Additionally they mentioned Davis was hooked on medication, together with meth, which exacerbated his psychological well being and behavioral troubles through the years. He had grown more and more erratic, and infrequently sneaked out of the home in the course of the night time, they mentioned.
Davis’ household couldn’t instantly be reached for remark Monday.
The courtroom data additionally provided new particulars within the killing of Kruger and the way police tied Davis to the scene.
In line with the data, police initially believed a unique man who struggled with a meth dependancy — and who visited Kruger’s home a couple of hours earlier than the homicide — had killed him. However after detectives examined Kruger’s cellphone, they discovered textual content messages and voicemails that led them to Davis.
Police recovered a voicemail on Kruger’s cellphone that was recorded simply three minutes earlier than he was killed. Within the recording, police may hear an individual they consider to be Kruger arguing with somebody at his entrance door. The individual informed Kruger he left his RAW rolling papers inside and wanted to get them, and Kruger angrily replied that he was asleep and informed the individual to “get out of right here,” in line with the data.
“I’m bored with you being imply to me,” Kruger may very well be heard saying.
Detectives mentioned the cellphone quantity that left the voicemail matches a quantity that belongs to Davis. A witness on the block additionally informed police Davis matched the individual they noticed on the scene.
The data say that textual content messages between Kruger and Davis additionally prompt Davis had accomplished work on Kruger’s basement earlier than, and had additionally damaged his window and stolen a number of weapons from him previously — incidents that had not been reported to police. And content material on the cellphone additionally indicated the 2 had been in an intimate relationship, the data say.
When police searched Davis’ bed room in his South Philadelphia house, they discovered a black and silver handgun, in line with the paperwork. Contained in the gun’s chamber had been a number of brass-colored .40 caliber rounds that police mentioned matched the scale and elegance of cartridge casings discovered on the scene.
The Defender Affiliation, which is representing Davis, declined to remark. He’s being held with out bail on the metropolis’s Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility.
