The daughter of a Columbia man beaten to death outside his home in 2024 has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the two people already facing criminal charges in his killing. Sofia Davis's civil suit names Alexander Aklan and Felicia Hay, accusing them of causing the death of her father, 56-year-old Antonio Davis, following an assault on Primrose Drive that left him with a fatal brain bleed.
According to court documents cited by ABC 17 News, Aklan allegedly assaulted Davis by pistol-whipping him to the ground, while Hay allegedly kicked him during the attack. Davis hit his head after being knocked down and was rushed to the hospital with a brain bleed. The lawsuit was filed in Boone County, where the underlying criminal charges were also filed.
The assault happened at roughly 2:30 p.m. on November 15, 2024, in the 2800 block of Primrose Drive, and Davis died seven days later, on November 22, 2024, after being hospitalized with life-threatening brain injuries, according to the Columbia Police Department. Officers arrested Aklan, then 28, and Hay, then 33, during a traffic stop around 7:30 p.m. that same day, about five hours after they first responded to the scene.
Charges Escalated After Davis's Death
Aklan was initially arrested on November 15, 2024, on charges of first-degree assault, armed criminal action, first-degree drug trafficking, and unlawful use of a weapon. After Davis died, police submitted amended second-degree murder charges to the Boone County Prosecuting Attorney's Office. Aklan now faces second-degree murder, first-degree assault, armed criminal action, unlawful use of a weapon, and second-degree drug trafficking, while Hay faces a first-degree assault charge.
Aklan's criminal case has a jury trial scheduled for March 23, 2027, at 9 a.m., with a pretrial conference set for February 8, 2027, at 8:30 a.m., per the same account from ABC 17 News. Hay, meanwhile, remains wanted on a warrant carrying a $10,000 bond. Local law enforcement records show Hay was previously arrested in Columbia in September 2020 on outstanding Miller County warrants for failing to appear on DUI and speeding charges, according to MO Mugshots. It remains unclear whether authorities will execute her current warrant before Aklan's trial begins.
What Aklan Could Face If Convicted
Under Missouri Revised Statutes § 565.021, second-degree felony murder is a Class A felony carrying a prison term of 10 to 30 years or life imprisonment, according to the Missouri Revisor of Statutes. Felony murder applies when a death occurs during the commission of an underlying felony, such as assault or drug trafficking. Separately, armed criminal action is classified as an unclassified felony under Missouri Revised Statutes § 571.015, carrying a mandatory minimum of three years that must be served consecutively to any underlying felony sentence and cannot be suspended or served concurrently.
A Separate Legal Track for the Family
As Sofia Davis's daughter and a surviving adult child, she qualifies as a Class 1 beneficiary under Missouri Revised Statutes § 537.080, giving her primary legal standing to file a wrongful death suit within the state's three-year statute of limitations. Missouri Revised Statutes § 537.090 allows wrongful death plaintiffs to seek damages covering medical and funeral bills, loss of financial support, loss of guidance, and the pain and suffering Davis endured before his death, with no statutory cap on non-economic damages in standard cases.
Unlike the criminal case against Aklan and Hay, the civil suit does not depend on proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. Missouri law requires only a “preponderance of the evidence” in wrongful death claims, a lower standard explained by the UMKC School of Law, meaning the civil case could proceed to a judgment regardless of how the criminal trial concludes. It remains unclear how a criminal verdict or any plea agreement might ultimately affect the family's ability to recover damages.
Following Davis's death in 2024, the Columbia Police Department and Boone County CrimeStoppers offered a reward of up to $2,500 for information aiding the investigation into the homicide.
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