By Samantha Bryson, Jennifer Pignolet
Days after Germantown police shot and killed 24-year-old veteran Justin Neil Davis in a city park, details emerged about his life and the events leading up to his death, as questions about his treatment at the Memphis Veterans Medical Center remain unanswered.
In the last year, Davis lost his father and his job. His wife of three years filed for divorce, citing in court records his escalating drinking problem. Despite his recent troubles, many of his Facebook photos showed a glowing father who doted on his daughter.
A close friend said Davis had been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder after a tour in Iraq and took medications to help him sleep.
Hours before Davis died Tuesday, the friend said, Davis was at the VA hospital for an MRI on his back and told an employee he was having suicidal thoughts.
McNeal Vallandinghan, a veteran who attended Houston High School with Davis, said they talked by phone before the VA appointment and Davis seemed normal.
“We talked all day long and not once during the entire day did he mention” suicide, Vallandinghan said.
He believes he was the last one to talk to Davis before the police arrived at Cameron Brown Park around 9:45 p.m. Tuesday and found Davis in his car with a rifle.
Germantown police were notified by the Fayette County Sheriff’s Office that Davis might be in the park and “possibly suicidal.”
Police evacuated several citizens in the park and cordoned off the area. Officers spoke to Davis on his phone and through a PA system.
“As officers were continuing their effort to communicate, the situation was escalated by the subject, who was armed with a rifle, resulting in three Germantown police officers discharging their weapons,” said a police news release.
Davis was pronounced dead on the scene.
Memphis VA spokeswoman Willie Logan, citing privacy concerns, would only confirm that Davis was receiving care at the VA.
According to records provided by Shelby County Schools, Davis was last enrolled at Houston High as a ninth-grader in 2006.
According to Army Human Resources Command at Fort Knox, Kentucky, Davis was a private in the Kentucky Army National Guard from January 2008 to November 2012.
He served in Iraq as a vehicle mechanic from February to June 2010 and received several awards, including the Army Achievement Medal and the National Defense Service Medal, officials said.
In December 2012, Davis was arrested by Collierville police for driving under the influence, according to police records. He failed his field sobriety test at the scene. When he was taken to jail, he had to be “physically restrained and had to be exposed to a chemical agent.”
“Davis also advised he was a recovering addict and he shouldn’t have been drinking,” the police report said. The case was dismissed June 12.
Davis’ father died in February, four months after his wife, Carly Davis, filed for divorce. Reached by phone Thursday, she asked for privacy for her and her family. She said she was uncomfortable discussing details about her husband because a law enforcement investigation is still pending.
In her petition for divorce, filed in October 2013, Carly Davis alleged that her husband had struggled with alcohol but had recently been discharged from a 30-day residential rehab facility.
A judge granted her request to bar Davis from consuming alcohol or taking drugs not prescribed by his physician while he was caring for their 2-year-old daughter. He was also forbidden by the judge from bringing any “paramour” around their child, and having unsecured firearms in his home when the girl was present.
Davis had worked for Shots & More, a Germantown walk-in clinic offering vaccinations, immunizations and other services.
In March, he wrote on Facebook that he was searching for work.
Vallandinghan’s stepfather, Dan Krueger, said Davis was anxious about finding a job to support his daughter. Krueger said he offered Davis a job at his hydraulic repair shop in Rossville starting next month. Krueger gave him a tour of the shop last week.
On Tuesday, after Davis’ MRI, Vallandinghan said Davis called and sent alarming text messages to friends and family.
“He was texting everybody goodbye,” he said.
Worried, Vallandinghan called the Veterans Crisis Line. The hotline operator asked for Davis’ contact information and said they would try to reach him. It was unclear if they contacted him before police arrived.
Vallandinghan said he texted Davis several times trying to find out where he was and drove around trying to find him. By the time Davis replied, saying he was at Cameron Brown Park, Vallandinghan was already at his own parents’ house in Fayette County.
A Fayette County sheriff’s deputy arrived at the house shortly after, Vallandinghan said, and would not let him go to the park.
“If they would have let me gone and possibly talk to him, even over the police loud speakers ? I could have tried to talk him down,” he said. “He was waiting for me to show up. And instead of me showing up, it’s all these cop cars driving in and surrounding him.”
Germantown police Deputy Chief Rodney Bright said he could not comment on Tuesday’s events pending the outcome of an investigation by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.
Per department policy, the three officers involved are on paid administrative leave. Their names have not been released.
Bright said several officers are trained in crisis intervention.
“We do everything we can, and we will exhaust every avenue that we can in those situations,” he said. “Every situation is different.”
Vallandinghan said Davis, who grew in the area, likely went to the park because it was one of his favorite spots to take his daughter.
“He was not a bad guy,” Vallanginghan said. “He just had an unstable moment, which sadly enough turned into what happened.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.