GUILTY CA - De'Shaun Davis, 20, fatally shot, Mendocino County, 21 Nov 2016 *Arrest*

[burblestein]

At 11:20 PM 21 November 2016, the Mendocino County Sheriff's Office received several phone calls, including one from Steven Ryan, age 62. Responding to the calls, LE found that Ryan had shot 20 year old De'Shaun Davis multiple times with a Springfield .45 caliber pistol and killed him.

The given address for the incident, 226 Vichy Springs Road, is just outside Ukiah's eastern city limits. It is one of a cluster of small rental units in a vineyard. De'Shaun was dumpster diving for recyclables when Ryan came out of his house and confronted him about trespassing. As De'Shaun moved toward Ryan, the latter opened fire at about 30 feet. De'Shaun fell dead in the driveway.

Although Ryan claimed self defense, an eyewitness claimed that after the first shot, De'Shaun fell to his knees with his hands upraised, calling, “I give up”. According to the witness, he then was shot at least twice.

Ryan's claim of self-defense seemed self serving, everything considered, so he was arrested for murder. Bail was set at either half or a whole million dollars, according to varying sources.

Having worked its way through the usual legal formalities, on 22 September 2017, the Ryan case should have gone to trial. However, it has been postponed because of the public defender's complaint of incomplete discovery. The trial will be rescheduled after the prosecution supplies the missing materials.

In this writer's estimation, Ryan's defense has an uphill struggle to defend him. His background shows he previously lived in Miami Beach. However, California is not a “stand your ground” state like Florida, so there goes one potential self-defense scenario. The racial/social aspect of the killing also mitigates against Ryan. An elderly Caucasian man shooting a young black man is so reminiscent of Trayvon Martin's shooting in Florida, it seems inevitable the comparison will be made in trial. The addition of a Hispanic witness to the Ryan/Davis affair even raises the racial ante concerning bigotry.

Sources:

Nuwber website:https://nuwber.com/person/563a34b17686b0176b3609be

Anderson Valley Advertiser, 22 November2016: http://theava.com/archives/63016

Willits News, 28 November 2016:http://www.willitsnews.com/article/NR/20161129/NEWS/161129971&template=printart

Santa Rosa Press Democrat, 27 January2017: http://www.pressdemocrat.com/news/6588396-181/ukiah-man-to-face-murder

Mendovoice, 1 December 2016: https://mendovoice.com/2016/12/steve-ryan-pleads-not-guilty-in-murder-of-deshaun-davis/

Anderson Valley Advertiser, 22September 2017: http://theava.com/archives/73738#2

 

[CaliRoses]

Steven Patrick Ryan sentenced to 21 years in state prison for voluntary manslaughter – The Ukiah Daily Journal

The defendant was convicted by jury last month of voluntary manslaughter. The jury also found true that the defendant intentionally and personally used a firearm to cause that death.

Ryan shot unarmed De’Shaun Christopher Davis to death just before Thanksgiving 2016. Claiming that he was in fear, Ryan admitted continuing to shoot at Davis even after Davis was down.

An eyewitness testified at trial that Davis was on his knees with his hands up telling the defendant he was surrendering when Ryan fired three times, killing Davis.