Overview
- Davis was pronounced dead at 11:03 p.m. on Friday, Sept. 11, at the California Medical Facility in Vacaville, state corrections officials said.
- He was convicted in 1972 of two counts of first-degree murder for the 1969 slayings of Gary Hinman and Donald “Shorty” Shea and was serving a life sentence.
- Parole boards found Davis suitable for release multiple times starting in the 2010s, but governors Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jerry Brown and Gavin Newsom repeatedly vetoed those recommendations.
- Davis had told parole commissioners he held a gun on Hinman while Charles Manson slashed the victim and that he cut Shea, statements that factored into assessments of his remorse and risk.
- While in custody he earned advanced degrees and had a largely clean disciplinary record, victims’ relatives have commented publicly on his death, and the Solano County coroner has not yet released a cause of death.