A Charlotte man who was watching his girlfriend’s seven-month-old son the night the infant suffered fatal injuries has been ordered to spend the rest of his life in prison.
Jurors found 26-year-old Zaki Davis guilty of first-degree murder in the death of Israel Williams, and Judge Tessa S. Sellers sentenced him to life in prison without the possibility of parole. The verdict and sentence were returned yesterday in Mecklenburg County Superior Court after a trial that began March 16. The case traces back to an incident in northwest Charlotte in December 2021.
According to prosecutors, Davis was the person caring for Israel on the evening of Dec. 17, 2021, when the baby suffered abusive head trauma and other non-accidental injuries. At trial, jurors saw cellphone records showing searches for phrases such as "baby acting lifeless" and "baby not responding but heart is" made before a 911 call at about 9:59 p.m., according to the District Attorney’s Office.
Police first went to a home on Corbett Square Lane in northwest Charlotte after a report of an unresponsive infant. Israel was taken to Levine Children’s Hospital, where he later died, and the Mecklenburg County Medical Examiner ruled the death a homicide. Homicide detectives then obtained murder warrants and arrested Davis on Dec. 22, 2021, on a charge of first-degree murder, as reported by WCCB Charlotte.
Prosecutors' account and legal context
The District Attorney’s Homicide Team tried the case before Judge Sellers in courtroom 5370. The jury found Davis guilty as charged, and Judge Sellers imposed a life sentence without the possibility of parole, according to the District Attorney’s Office. Under state law, first-degree murder is punishable by death or life without parole, as outlined in N.C. Gen. Stat. 14-17, making Davis’s punishment the toughest non-capital sentence available.
The same release noted that the verdict comes as Child Abuse Prevention Month begins and highlighted a county HELP line for anyone who suspects a child is being abused.
With the conviction and sentence in place, the jury trial phase of the case is complete. Any post-trial motions or appeals would move through the state courts, and the verdict and judgment are now part of the official Superior Court record.
