• Harrison Davis killed his grandson while driving drunk with him on his all-terrain vehicle
• The crash happened on July 1, 2018 in a “remote area” outside Gallup
• The binding plea deal puts his sentence at five to eight years
Read the case write-up or see past stories on this case
DATELINE — A Gallup man will receive a sentence of five to eight years for killing his grandson in a drunk driving crash, assuming a sentencing judge signs off on his plea deal with prosecutors.
Harrison Davis, age unlisted in court documents, pleaded guilty, May 10, 2021, to a criminal information charging him with involuntary manslaughter.
The binding plea deal, signed on April 9, 2021, but not submitted to the court until May 10, sets his sentence at five to eight years. The maximum sentence for involuntary manslaughter is eight years. Prosecutor Frederick Mendenhall signed the plea deal.
Davis was originally indicted on a charge of child endangerment resulting in death, a state charge prosecuted federally, on Nov. 25, 2019, 16 months after he killed his unidentified grandson.
According to the federal statute, if found guilty, Davis would face the same penalties as he would in New Mexico, which, appear to be 18 years, a far cry from the eight year maximum he faces under the plea deal, and under the statute, for involuntary manslaughter.
Davis wrote in the plea agreement that he was driving his all-terrain vehicle with his grandson, only identified as E.D.
“I had been drinking alcohol and was drunk,” Davis wrote. “I crashed the vehicle, harming myself, and killing my grandson.”
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Magistrate Judge John Robbenhaar accepted the plea although the district judge who sentences Davis could still reject it.
Sentencing has not been set in the case.
Davis released following 2019 arraignment
Davis was arraigned on Dec. 13, 2019 and pleaded not guilty to the child endangerment charge. A different federal prosecutor, David Cowen, did not object to the recommendations of the pretrial services officer and the judge adopted them, according to court minutes.
The minutes sheet does not list what the conditions are. The order releasing him states he can only travel in New Mexico, he can talk to his family but not about the case, he may not use alcohol and he must participate in any outpatient programs ordered by pretrial services. Federal District Court Judge Karen Molzen ordered him released to the custody of his wife, Juanita Davis, and allowed to live in their home near Gallup, according to a minute sheet.
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See the case documents on Google Drive or Document Cloud. Read the case write-up or see past stories on this case
- Suspect: Harrison Davis
- Victim: Unidentified male child, his grandson
- Charges: Involuntary manslaughter pleaded down from Child endangerment resulting in death
- Date of incident: July 1, 2018
- Type of incident: DWI crash
- Status: Plea to involuntary manslaughter, sentencing pending
- Investigating Agency: FBI
- Location: Outside of Gallup, NM
- County: McKinley County
- Federal district case number: 19-cr-04446
- Prosecutor: Frederick Mendenhall
- Defense attorney: Sylvia Baiz
- Pre-trial release judge: District Judge Karen Molzen
- Plea judge: Magistrate Judge John Robbenhaar
- Sentencing judge: TBD