KIM L. DAVIS | Sentenced To Life Without Parole For Dragging Death Of Six-Year-Old Jake Robel | Got caught in seatbelt when Davis Tried to steal vehicle | Literally watched him get pummeled to death in the rear-view mirror | Lot 2 ALS

Lot of 2: (1) Mr. Kimmy L. Davis. ALS. Commercial #10 (4.125” x 9.5”) envelope. Pmk: n.d. 0.8 oz. SEALED. Contents unknown. Pristine; and (2) Mr. Kim Davis. ALS. Baronial #6 Bar (4.75” x 6.5”) envelope, Pmk: April 11, 2007. SEALED, Content unknown. Pristine.

Kim Davis (hereinafter referred to as “Kimmy”; b. September 29, 1965 | age 58) was being held in Carroll County, Missouri, in February 2000, after being convicted of municipal charges in Independence, Missouri. Independence had a contract with Carroll County to house prisoners at the time. Kimmy was released from the jail on February 22, 2000, and upon leaving, he saw Officer Kormendi, an Independence police officer, outside the jail. Kimmy asked Kormendi, who had just dropped off a prisoner, if he could give him a ride back to Independence. Kormendi agreed because it was customary to provide released prisoners with a courtesy ride back to Independence.

Kormendi left Kimmy at the intersection of 291 Highway and 23rd Street before Kormendi proceeded on to the Independence police station. Shops with restrooms and phones were located at the intersection. Kimmy left the intersection and began walking south.

Kimmy came to the intersection of 291 Highway and Hidden Valley Road. At the intersection was a strip mall. Kimmy went into a restaurant in the strip mall, Bogart’s, at around 2:30 pm and called his sister on the pay phone. She agreed to come and pick him up at the strip mall, but told him that it would be awhile before she would be there. Kimmy went outside to wait for his sister between 3:30 pm and 4:00 pm Once outside, Kimmy waited in front of Mr. Goodcents, a sandwich shop in the strip mall.

Christy Robel ("Christy") drove up to the strip mall in her Chevrolet Blazer around 4:00 p.m. and parked in front of Mr. Goodcents. Jake, her six-year-old son, was in the back seat on the driver's side. He had rolled down the back window because it was a warm day. He was wearing his seat belt, which was made up of a lap and shoulder harness that was connected. The lap section of Jake's seat belt was properly across his lap, but the shoulder section had been moved behind his back.

Kimmy's sister arrived at Mr. Goodcents at 4:30 pm to pick him up. Christy turned off the Blazer but left the keys in the ignition. She discussed getting food at Mr. Goodcents with Jake. Jake decided to stay in the car, so Christy went into the restaurant by herself. Another customer, Nick Barela, noticed Kimmy climb into the Blazer as soon as she entered the store and began to place her order at the counter. Barela yelled at Christy that her car had been stolen. Christy and Barela bolted from the store in the direction of the Blazer.

Christy ran to the back driver's side door and tried to free Jake. Kimmy began to back up the Blazer. Barela attempted to reach into the Blazer and grab Kimmy, but just brushed his shirt.   Christy had trouble getting Jake's seatbelt to release. She frantically yelled at Kimmy for him to stop so that she could get her son out of the car. Kimmy told her to get away from the car.   Jake was screaming.

Christy unlatched the seatbelt and pulled Jake from the Blazer, but the seatbelt was still wrapped around his waist. Kimmy stopped backing up the car and started driving forward.   Christy and Jake fell. Kimmy drove the Blazer forward and dragged Jake and Christy for a short distance. Christy lost her grip on Jake. Kimmy continued to drive forward, with the back door open and with Jake being dragged. Jake screamed for his mother to help him. The back door slammed shut, locking Jake outside the car, tangled in the seat belt. The back window was still down. Barela yelled at Kimmy to “Stop and let the child off.” Christy screamed repeatedly at Kimmy that he was dragging her son. Several people heard Christy screaming, including some behind closed doors. A lady 640 feet away clearly heard Christy’s screams.

As Kimmy was driving forward, Barela, Christy, and another witness saw Kimmy look to his back and left, toward where Jake was being dragged. Kimmy also looked in the rear-view mirror on the driver's side door. The Blazer was equipped with a convex mirror on the door's rear-view mirror that widened the field of view and allowed the driver to see in “blind spot”.  Kimmy drove out of the parking lot and onto 291 highway. Jake was still screaming. Christy, Barela, and other witnesses to the event ran after the Blazer, screaming at Kimmy to stop and that he was dragging a child.

Kimmy took the 291 Highway south. He looked back after driving about thirty feet down the highway, in the direction of where Jake was now being dragged and bouncing against the side of the Blazer. Kimmy rammed the Blazer through a concrete median. Jake slammed into the median, bouncing up as high as the top of the back window. When several people noticed Kimmy dragging Jake, they began honking their horns or flashing their lights. Kimmy did not stop and continued driving down the highway at a high speed. Two more witnesses saw Kimmy looking in the direction of Jake from further down the highway.

Kimmy exited onto Interstate 70 and began driving at speeds of more than 80 miles per hour. Jake's body spun and twisted before slamming into the side of the Blazer. Jake's body was bouncing as high as the middle of the back windows at times. When other drivers noticed Jake, they began flashing their lights and honking their horns. Kimmy was seen looking into the door rear-view mirror in the direction of Jake once more. Several horrified drivers began pursuing the Blazer.

Kimmy exited at Noland Road. Kimmy jumped curbs on Noland Road and drove erratically around other motorists. Witnesses could hear Jake being dragged and bounced off the Blazer, as well as visually observe him. Kimmy came to the intersection of Noland Road and Lynn Court. The traffic in the intersection was heavy, with cars crossing the intersection, blocking off Noland Road. Kimmy was forced to stop to avoid the traffic. People that had been chasing Kimmy from I-70 caught up with him. Howard Byam and Frank Byam, brothers, pulled their Chevrolet Silverado truck in front of the Blazer. Kimmy got out of the Blazer and looked at Jake's body. Kimmy stated, “I didn't do that,” and reentered the Blazer. He then rammed the Byams' truck. Other cars pulled in behind Kimmy. Kimmy then began ramming the vehicles that were blocking him in, attempting to escape. Jake still hung from the Blazer.

The Byam brothers wrestled Kimmy out of the Blazer. Kimmy resisted, and the Byams restrained Kimmy until the police arrived. The total distance between where the strip mall and where Kimmy was apprehended was about four and a half miles. Jake was pronounced dead on the scene. He had suffered numerous cuts and abrasions over his extremities, but died from blunt force trauma to his head.

Kimmy was charged with murder in the first degree, kidnapping, tampering in the first degree, and armed criminal action. A jury trial was held. The State called nineteen eyewitnesses to the crime, many of whom observed Kimmy looking in the direction of Jake while he was driving the Blazer. The State called a medical examiner to discuss Jake's wounds and how they were inflicted. The medical examiner testified that Jake was alive, if not conscious, when most of the wounds were inflicted, and, thus, was probably alive for most of the ordeal. The State also called crime scene investigators, which had done experiments to determine whether Kimmy could have seen Jake from the Blazer's rear view mirrors. The investigators testified they determined that Kimmy could have observed Jake from the rear view mirrors.

The defense called two witnesses:  Officer Kormendi and Stuart Nightenhelser, a specialist in accident reconstruction. Nightenhelser testified about how a convex mirror works, but did not make any comment as to whether, in this circumstance, Kimmy could or could not have seen Jake from the convex or regular rear view mirrors on the Blazer. The jury found Kimmy guilty on all charges. The option of death was presented to the jury. The recommendation of the jury was for life imprisonment. Kimmy was sentenced as a prior and persistent offender to consecutive terms of life without eligibility for probation or parole for murder in the first degree, life imprisonment for armed criminal action, seven years for tampering in the first degree, and fifteen years for kidnapping. Kimmy now appeals.ⁱ

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