News Releases

Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascón announced that a man sentenced to death for a 1985 double murder has been resentenced today to life in prison without the possibility of parole after it was determined the defendant is ineligible for the death penalty due to an intellectual disability.

“The death penalty has been shown to not deter crime, has a history of racial bias and is fiscally irresponsible,” District Attorney Gascón said. “The death sentence imposed against this intellectually disabled person over 30 years ago has been corrected with a sentence to life in prison without the possibility of parole.”

On Sept. 30, 1985, Stanley Bernard Davis (dob 3/9/62) murdered college students Michelle Boyd, 18, and Brian Harris, 20, after a carjacking. A jury found him guilty of the murders and on Oct. 12, 1989 recommended the death penalty.

Davis appealed his conviction in 1989 and filed a petition for writ of habeas corpus in 2003 seeking relief from the sentence of death. The petition included over 217 exhibits documenting evidence of meeting the legal criteria of intellectual disability and therefore making him ineligible for capital punishment.

Today, after more than 30 years of costly litigation, prosecutors stipulated that a legitimate claim of intellectual disability has been made and requested that Davis be resentenced to life without the possibility of parole in the interest of justice.

The Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office has been in contact with the families of the victims and are providing any and all services as we ensure justice is served in this case.