The Cincinnati Enquirer from Cincinnati, Ohio • A4

4A SUNDAY, MARCH 14, 2021 THE ENQUIRER SALESHOURS FRI: 9-7 SAT: 9-6 12-5 Exceptional Service Guaranteed513-891-7200 9750 Montgomery Rd. Cincinnati, Ohio 45242 PROUD MEMBER OF THE JOSEPH AUTO GROUP THE COLUMBIA ADVANTAGE 10 YEARS 150,000 MILES POWERTRAINWARRANTY FREE UNLIMITED CARWASHES COURTESY VEHICLE PROVIDED FOR SERVICE VISITS HURRY FOR BEST SELECTION. MISS OUT! MAKE YOUR BEST DEAL TODAY! 2020 BOLT LT EV AS LOW $23 995 MSRP $39,999 2020 TRAX LS $14,995 MSRP $22,790 COME SEE JOE BECKER, GARY GREVER OR COREY TAYLOR COLUMBIA CHEVROLET LOCATED IN THE HEART OF MONTGOMERY Price includes all available incentives rebates including Chevrolet Owner Loyalty, Lease Conquest Loyalty and Costco memebership for 2020 Bolt EV. See Dealer for details. Offers ends STK STK AS LOW 2021 MALIBU LS $20 995 MSRP $25,590 AS LOW 2020 IMPALA LT AS LOW AS $28,995 MSRP $33,370 2020 TRAVERSE LS $27 995 MSRP $34,095 STK AS LOW AS AS AS 2020 EQUINOX LS AS LOW AS $20 995 MSRP $28,180 STK STK AS STK 8700 COLERAIN AVE.

513-741-1000 JOSEPHBUICKGMC.COM FORMORE INFORMATION CONTACT PHIL DORGER PEACE OFMINDWITH EVERY PURCHASE EXCEPTIONALSERVICEGUARANTEED WECARE ABOUTYOURHEALTH CHOOSEAVEHICLE ONLINE DELIVER ITTOYOU. VISIT JOSEPHBUICKGMC.COM HOME OF THE LIFETIME WARRANTY UNLIMITED YEARS MILES Residency restrictions apply. MUST FINANCE through GM Financial WITH APPROVED CREDIT. All applicable GM employee, supplier, and customer rebates have been deducted to achieve purchase price. All pricing includes 2005 or newer trade and applicable incentives Joseph Buick GMC discounts.

not combined with discounted prices. Certain restrictions apply. Pending credit approval plus tax title and fees. See dealer for details. Expires JOSEPH BUICK-GMC SAVE BIG ON 2020 MODEL YEAR BLOWOUT AT THE JOSEPH BUICK GMC TRADE KEYS EVENT! SAVE UP TO $10,000 AND GET FOR 72 MONTHS STOCK B2211 MSRP $26,090 STOCK G21020R MSRP $35,290 2020 BUICK ENCORE BUY FOR $15,995 AND GET A LIFETIME WARRANTY 2021 GMC ACADIA LEASE FOR for 36 months WITH ZERO Stock B2124R MSRP $35,190 2020 BUICK ENVISION BUY FOR $21,995 AND GET A LIFETIME WARRANTY Stock B2090R MSRP $41,195 2020 BUICK ENCLAVE BUY FOR $27,995 AND GET A LIFETIME WARRANTY For the families of victims killed in unsolved murders, life is at a standstill.

The Enquirer is highlighting a series of cold cases, summarized and analyzed by the journalists whose careers largely focus on unsolved murders: the creators of Cincinnati.com’s Accused podcast. If you have any information on any un- solved case, please reach out to the ap- propriate law enforcement agency. Sug- gestions for cases to highlight can be sent to The crime: When word reached Floyd mother that the 23-year- old had been fatally shot in Avondale, his mother was devastated, heartbro- ken. But, if being honest, not en- tirely surprised. seen the path her son was heading down, and tried time and again to steer him straight.

last time I saw him, I said, come home. Please come said Gabrielle Yisrael, now 70. carrying guns, looking down the street left, right, up, down. This is not a way to But Davis told his mom he needed to face things, he just He was sure he could handle it. the next week, before the news even came out, I was getting calls that he was Yisrael said.

That was March 26, 1992. Davis, a fa- ther of two, had been shot with a 12- gauge shotgun in the place where been staying on Jay Street. Twenty-nine years later, his homi- cide is still unsolved and Yisrael is plagued by the what-ifs that haunt all loved ones. The victim: The Floyd his mother knew was not the man whose name made the newspapers after his death. The news stories accurately reported that Davis had recently been charged with manslaughter.

(More on that charge later.) the son his mom remembers: In his early years, he had an Afro so large, it competed with the size of his head. Beneath that natural hair was a mischievous smile. was so Yisrael said. al- ways kept him sharp. In his school pic- tures, he wore a Early on, his shoes as cute.

been born pigeon-toed and had ex- tra wide feet as in triple for those familiar so Yisrael bought him the cor- rective shoes he needed. By age 9 or 10, he got his pair of regular gym shoes. Yisrael was a single mother of four children two biological and two adopt- ed of whom Davis was the oldest. She worked hard waitressing to give her kids what she have growing up. And it seemed to be paying when Davis was starting school.

begun reading and writing earlier than his peers. was so his mother said. was on the debate team at Hughes High School. His teachers would tell me how bright he For one debate, Yisrael bought him an argyle sweater to wear over a dress shirt and tie. The even had the obligatory corduroy pants.

She said Da- vis held his own on the stage and seemed proud of himself. But Davis want to be smart as much as he wanted to in. battled in his teens because I could see he was a she said. the thing about a lot of our young Black men. They want to be smart because that makes them look jive.

They want to be an idiot and act And Yisrael is the to say that her son did some stupid things. The wrong path: The decline was slow. In middle school, his mom caught him with stolen gym equipment from his school, so she made him return it and apologize. By his senior year, he was skipping so often, she was sure he gradu- ate. where being smart saved him: Even though missed most of the year, she said, he took his ex- ams and managed to pass his classes well enough to get his diploma.

high school, out pa- pers, looking for money so he can go to Yisrael said. But Davis had other ideas. He joined the Marines. Yisrael said she cried for three days when he left. Instead of learning discipline there, however, he learned to sell drugs, his mother said.

When he came home for a suspiciously long break from the Corps, his mother learned that actually been caught smoking marijuana and got an than discharge. After that, it seemed nothing Yisrael said got through to him. About a year before his death, Davis had apparently been carrying drugs from one spot to another when a rival jumped, robbed and beat him so badly that he was hospitalized. His mother re- members that head was like four corners, it was so and that he had blood in the urine from his catheter. A police detective asked him assaulted him, but Davis tell.

not how things work on the streets. The detective warned Yisrael: this is about, go back and forth, then one day, it might hit him the wrong Things began coming to a head on Dec. 26, 1991. Yisrael was at work when she learned Davis had been arrested with some friends involved in a shoot- ing. Davis insisted he the gun- man, but his proof was hardly exculpat- ing: He showed his mom a blood blister on his trigger explaining that while he had tried to his weapon, it jammed, causing the injury.

Thus, it have been his bullet that killed the rival. remember throwing the phone at the she said, referring to the di- vider in place at the jail separating pris- oners from their visitors. She told him it matter whose bullet was the fatal one. said, there! You know what that means. Complicity.

Complic- ity to a daughter tried to calm her mother, but Yisrael hearing it. involved in a she screamed. Our Your The son she knew: The son Yisrael knew had once gone to summer camp with a ton of clothes but came back with an empty bag because he said so many of the other kids have nice clothes to wear. She tried so hard to reach him. She pleaded: time I hear of a shoot- ing, thinking about she re- members telling him.

need to value your It seem Davis got the mes- sage. But Yisrael, for one, valued her son. She worked long hours providing for him. She dropped in on him at school to make sure he was behaving. When he messed up, she reprimanded him and made him apologize.

She bought him corrective shoes and argyle sweaters and praised him for his brains. And the son for whom she still wants justice. just try to keep my she said. never been the same, nor will I be, since he Got tips? People with information on case can call Cincinnati homicide unit at 513-352-3542 or Crime Stoppers at 513-352-3040. Accused, reported by Enquirer jour- nalists Amber Hunt and Amanda Ross- mann, is an award-winning podcast in- vestigating cold cases with three sea- sons available on all mainstream plat- forms such as Apple Podcasts and also at www.accusedpodcast.com.

BACKSTORY Mom: Shooting victim was bright, troubled Davis was selling drugs at time of death in 1992 Amber Hunt Cincinnati Enquirer USA TODAY NETWORK When 23-year-old Floyd Davis died in 1992, he left behind two children, including this son, nicknamed "Ziza." Davis' shooting death is still unsolved in 2021. PROVIDED.