SUFFOLK, Va. - A News 3 investigation into the background of the man arrested in connection with a September 4 homicide in Suffolk revealed the suspect was released from jail just ten days prior to the slaying.
29-year-old Preston O. Davis IV was arrested on Wednesday after a car chase along Pitchkettle Road, according to a news release from Suffolk police. During that chase, a woman jumped out of the moving car, police said.
A News 3 review of court records connected to Davis revealed a long series of arrests, dismissals, and plea agreements, the latest being a deal approved on August 25 that allowed him to be released back into the community that same day.
Court records indicate Davis' first felony convictions were in May 2016, when he was found guilty on two counts of receiving stolen goods. He received a five-year sentence, but all five years were suspended, and Davis was released on a three-year term of supervised probation. He was charged in several misdemeanor cases in 2018 and 2019, but all were dismissed.
Then, on June 10, 2020, Davis was arrested in connection with a shooting which occurred six days prior at the Heritage Acres apartment complex on Nansemond Parkway. A man was taken to a local hospital with a non-life-threatening gunshot wound, police said, and two apartment buildings were damaged by gunfire. However, those charges were dismissed on October 26, 2020.
On August 25, 2020, two months prior to the dismissal of the Nansemond Parkway shooting case, Davis was arrested on various charges relating to domestic violence. That domestic violence case was resolved with a plea agreement finalized on December 28, 2020, when a judge approved the deal which dismissed one felony count of malicious wounding, one count of felony child neglect, and two other misdemeanors. In return, Davis agreed to plead guilty to a reduced charge of unlawful wounding.
The agreement suspended all but seven months of a five-year prison sentence, allowing Davis to soon be out on probation with an agreement to maintain good behavior for five years after his release. He also agreed to complete a domestic violence intervention training course and avoid any contact with the victim in the case. Davis received credit for time served as required by Virginia law and was released from jail on March 26, 2021, according to a probation report.
The plan of supervision for Davis' probation involved "network[ing] with family and friends to control his impulsive thoughts and actions at all times," according to court documents. However, it wasn't long before Davis was back in trouble with the law.
In late 2021, Davis was accused of a "major violation" of the terms of his probation - he tested positive for fentanyl on October 5, 2021, and "reportedly had contact with the victim," according to a probation violation report filed in Suffolk Circuit Court. The report also stated Davis was arrested for disorderly conduct in August 2021 and failed to notify his probation officer about it.
Davis was found guilty of disorderly conduct in November 2021 and received a twelve-month sentence with six months suspended; however, he appealed the case to a higher court. In December 2021, a judge issued an arrest warrant for Davis' reported probation violations.
In early January 2022, that warrant would be served after Suffolk police arrested Davis for malicious wounding, robbery with force, and damaging a phone line to prevent a 911 call.
Then, in April 2022, while Davis was still jailed, a Suffolk grand jury indicted him on two additional counts stemming from his August 2021 arrest, including attempted abduction by force or intimidation, a felony.
On May 3, 2022, prosecutors moved for a nolle prosequi dismissal of the malicious wounding and robbery charges from January 2022. But the probation violation and April 2022 indictments were still hanging over him, and he remained behind bars. But Davis would end up being released just a few months later.
On August 25, 2022, Suffolk Circuit Court Judge Carl E. Eason, Jr. signed off on a plea agreement which allowed Davis to plead guilty on one misdemeanor count of assault & battery, while dropping the attempted abduction and disorderly conduct charges and suspending the entirety of the twelve-month sentence for assault & battery.
That same day, Judge Eason revoked Davis' suspended sentence from the December 2020 conviction; however, Eason re-suspended all of it except for time served. Davis was released from jail later that evening.
Ten days later, on September 4, 30-year-old Caleb Pittman was shot dead in broad daylight on S. Saratoga Street in Suffolk. Police would soon identify Preston Davis IV as the suspect and secured numerous felony warrants, including second-degree murder.
On September 7, 2022, Suffolk police encountered Davis after receiving reports of a woman being assaulted inside of a vehicle, according to a news release. Officers attempted to pull over the vehicle, but the driver failed to yield and a pursuit began, police said.
According a police, a woman jumped from the moving car during the chase. Davis eventually exited the car, attempting to flee on foot, but was taken into custody shortly thereafter, police said.
News 3's Leondra Head spoke with attorney and former prosecutor Todd Stone, who's not connected to the case, for analysis on why prosecutors negotiate plea deals with repeat offenders.
"It’s really more of the evidence that prosecutors have. A defense attorney is going to try to get the lightest thing possible for his or her client," Todd Stone said.
"In one of the criminal complaints [against Davis], there was a witness who observed this man pulling a female by her hair into the car. There was a witness available at the time," Stone said.
"The question is was that person available at the time of court, could they get their hands on them and have them testify in court...that might have forced a prosecutor to enter into a plea agreement [for] less than what they wanted," Stone added.
News 3 reached out to the Suffolk Commonwealth's Attorney, Narendra Pleas, in an effort to learn more about why Davis was able to be released back into the community on August 25. Pleas responded with the following statement:
"The Virginia Rules of Professional Ethics prohibit us from commenting on pending cases. However, in the closed case in which you inquired, which had an offense date of August 20, 2021, we can advise that the case was resolved via plea agreement due to evidentiary issues (witness cooperation issues) that would have precluded us from a successful prosecution on all charges.
We all want safe communities, but those that have the power to do something, sometimes don’t. It’s a problem we have grappled with for years, but it has grown worse during COVID. We have witnesses who are uncooperative during investigations, witnesses who saw the crime but say nothing, and victims who minimize, or deny completely, a crime.
A plea agreement is not always about netting the most jail time, or securing a conviction on a particular charge; it is a negotiation. Sometimes, without witness cooperation, our choices become very limited. We have to determine if going to trial might result in a dismissal or proceed with a plea that will strive to hold the defendant accountable."
Davis is now being held without bail at Western Tidewater Regional Jail and is scheduled to be arraigned on the latest charges on September 22 in Suffolk General District Court. An inmate interview request sent to jail officials Thursday was not immediately returned.
