Wild text of teen couple who ‘murdered 5 family members & kept grandma’s severed thumb in warped plot to stay together’
GRISLY new details have emerged in the case against two teens accused of murdering five family members, with prosecutors alleging a grandmother’s thumb was cut off and kept to unlock her iPhone.
Ja’ymier Davis and his 15-year-old girlfriend allegedly targeted seven people in her family during a series of shootings in East St. Louis, Illinois.
The rampage left five dead, all members of her own family, and two others wounded, also family members.
The young couple reportedly committed the crimes as the girl was angry she was being homeschooled and that her family was keeping them apart.
Davis has been charged as an adult with five counts of first-degree murder, along with dismembering a human body, and other charges.
He remains jailed, while his girlfriend is being held in juvenile custody as prosecutors seek to have her transferred to adult court. where she faces first-degree murder charges.
The girl’s grandmother 74-year-old Patricia May; aunt, 49-year-old Cherie May; and cousin, 20-year-old Devin May, were all fatally shot.
The pair also reportedly executed her own siblings, Quentin Thompson, 21, and Shania Thompson, 25.
Santosha Scott, survived the shooting, and Tiffany Thompson, the girl’s mother also survived after being shot.
According to prosecutors in St. Clair County Circuit Court, her grandmother Patricia’s right thumb was severed after she was fatally shot.
Court documents obtained by Fox2Now allege the thumb was later found in the center console of Davis’ vehicle and had been used to access her cellphone.
The shootings unfolded across multiple locations on Sunday, with one victim killed at a home, three others slain at the Samuel Gompers Housing Development, and three people shot at nearby Jones Park, where one person died and two survived.
Investigators also recovered Instagram messages allegedly exchanged between Davis and his girlfriend, who has not been publicly identified because she is a juvenile.
In one message, shown in court during a hearing on Wednesday, she reportedly wrote: “Babe, I’m finna lose my whole family for you.”
The court also heard that Cherie’s body was found stuffed inside a storage tote behind a dumpster at the housing development.
Investigators believe she had been killed days before Sunday’s violence.
During Wednesday’s hearing, Davis’ attorney argued the teen acted in self-defense, claiming his client “was not the hunter but rather the hunted.”
According to prosecutors, Devin and Patricia went to Cherie’s apartment after becoming concerned when they could not reach her.
They allege Devin walked upstairs and encountered Davis and his girlfriend before Davis fatally shot him in the head.
Patricia was waiting outside in a vehicle when, prosecutors claim, Davis’ girlfriend lured her into the apartment, where Davis also shot and killed her.
Lamarion Smiley, a relative of the victims, told 5 On Your Side that the pair executed the family members as they were being kept apart.
“She ran away with this boy numerous times. Stayed in vacant houses with this boy, and every time we found her and brought her back home, we let her know, like, ‘You’re 15, you don’t know what love truly is yet,’” he said.
The girl’s father, Marcus May, also told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that the violence unfolded after months of bad behavior.
He claimed it began when her mother, his ex-partner, decided to home school their daughter after she had been getting into trouble.
He claimed the decision enraged his daughter, who allegedly ran away from home multiple times and even stole her mother’s credit card.
Marcus alleged that five days before the killing spree, his ex-partner phoned him to say their daughter had disappeared after allegedly stealing her gun.
He also claimed his daughter had been in a group chat with her boyfriend and other teenagers where they allegedly discussed killing family members.
May admitted he did not believe the threats would become reality.
He said his daughter’s mother later reported her missing and warned police the firearm had been taken, but days passed without any contact.
On the day of the massacre, Marcus said his mother, Patricia, had also begged her granddaughter to return home, saying she “deal with” her behavior.
The local community is now coming to terms with the tragedy, while GoFundMe fundraisers have been launched to support the family through the aftermath.
One fundraiser highlights the impact on Devin’s young daughter, stating: “The family is now not only mourning the loss of their loved ones, but also facing the urgent need to support Devin’s daughter as she grows up without her father.”
Another fundraiser explains the devastating toll on Tiffany’s family: “The tragedy claimed the lives of Tiffany’s son and daughter, and left Tiffany and her cousin hospitalized with serious injuries.
“In the aftermath, the family is facing an unimaginable journey filled with grief, uncertainty, and unexpected financial burdens.”
