A Jefferson Parish judge has handed down a hefty sentence to Larry Davis for a single-day armed robbery spree that included heists across Metairie and the West Bank. Last Friday, per Jefferson Parish District Attorney’s Office, Davis, 56, received a 120-year prison sentence for the March 28, 2019, robberies at a drugstore and two discount retail stores.
Davis's spree unfolded in the pre-dawn hours, starting at a drug store in the 1700 block of Veterans Memorial Boulevard. His face obscured by cloth, Davis, clad in black, brandished a small silver pistol to pilfer a cashier's till and a customer's credit card. Throughout the day, Davis, leveraging the same guise and gun, hit two more stores, swiftly making off with cash registers' contents each time, filling the day with terror and ending inside a white pickup truck.
The string of robberies led to quick detective work by the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office, as reported by the Jefferson Parish District Attorney's Office. Fingerprints lifted from one of the stolen cash tills pointed to Davis and his accomplice, Israel Johnathan Freeman, as prime suspects. A discarded till mere miles from the first robbery site provided the initial breadcrumb leading authorities on their chase.
The pursuit of Davis hit a climax with a high-speed bridge crossing, the robbers outrunning deputies at over 90 mph. Though they briefly lost the white Chevrolet Colorado pickup, an astute citizen's 911 call led to Davis's apprehension within the hour. Meanwhile, Freeman managed to elude capture on that frantic day but found his run ending in Centerville, Miss., two weeks later.
Each of Davis’s four armed robbery counts carried a 30-year sentence, "with a 5-year firearm enhancement, because Davis was armed with the pistol in robbing the four victims," the Jefferson Parish District Attorney press release specified. Notably, Davis rejected the courtroom for most of his trial only appearing on the first day, but the trial progressed in his absence, culminating in the recent sentencing. Freeman, who pleaded guilty earlier, received a 15-year sentence.
