Years later, justice eludes family of Fort Worth murder victim

For Scotti Choice, justice in his mother’s slaying remains frustratingly close.

More than six years after his mother, Gloria Choice, was found fatally beaten inside a vacant east Fort Worth apartment, the family’s prayers seemed to be answered after police arrested a 29-year-old man on a murder warrant in the case.

The relief the arrest brought, however, was short-lived.

A week later, Michael Leon Davis Jr. was released from jail pending further investigation. To this day, he has never been formally charged in the case.

The arrest warrant affidavit, written in March 2012, shows that investigators’ case against Davis had been based on conflicting statements he’d given to police through the years and the words of two witnesses, including his own brother, who told police that Davis had admitted killing Gloria Choice to them.

Police said this week that Davis remains the main suspect in the case.

“The challenges are there is not enough evidence to move forward and charge him,” said homicide Sgt. Joe Loughman. “Our witnesses have either recanted or are not what you would call credible. Everything else is merely circumstantial and would be relevant only if these other witnesses were credible.”

Davis is currently out on bond, awaiting trial on two theft charges. He did not respond to messages seeking comment.

Scotti Choice said that while he is discouraged that Davis has never been charged, pushing forward is his only option. He still calls police, passing along information he’s heard or pleading for updates. He’s started a Facebook page so his mother’s case will not be forgotten.

And at 6:30 p.m Friday — what would have been his mother’s 65th birthday — he, family and friends will gather at Gloria Choice’s grave site at the Shannon Rose Hill Cemetery for a candlelight vigil.

“It’s my mom. I know if it would have been me, she wouldn’t have let it die down. I’m not going to let it die down either. You only have one mom,” Scotti Choice said.

Gloria Choice’s body was found dead Dec. 9, 2005, in the bedroom of a vacant Woodhaven apartment in the 5800 block of Goldenwood Drive. The woman’s pants had been pushed down to her feet and a pool of blood encircled her head.

According to the 2012 arrest warrant affidavit, Davis had first come to the attention of investigators weeks after Gloria Choice’s slaying, when he flagged down a Fort Worth officer, claiming he had information about the woman’s murder.

During a Christmas Eve interview with homicide Detective Jose Hernandez, Davis blamed the slaying on another man, whom he identified by nickname and later picked out from a photo line-up, saying he’d been given the information by a relative’s boyfriend.

But another witness, interviewed by police repeatedly through the years, would tell police that he’d heard a man nicknamed “Smokey” say that he had killed Gloria Choice. Police would eventually identify “Smokey” as Davis.

Davis was brought in for questioning against in 2010. This time, he still pinned the slaying on another man but gave conflicting information about how he had learned of the man’s involvement. He initially told detectives he’d never been inside the apartment where Gloria Choice was found dead, then changed his story, saying he’d been there the day before her slaying, the affidavit states.

The man Davis had blamed for the slaying denied any involvement and passed a polygraph, the affidavit states.

Davis also submitted to a polygraph. The examiner concluded Davis was being deceptive when asked questions about his possible involvement in Gloria Choice’s slaying. Polygraphs, however, are not admissible in court.

Police have done extensive testing of evidence in the case but have been unable to link Davis to the slaying through physical evidence, Loughman said.

This story was originally published September 11, 2014 at 4:31 PM with the headline "Years later, justice eludes family of Fort Worth murder victim."