Two Arizona men, ages 36 and 18, are facing criminal charges after they killed a 16-year-old girl who was allegedly pregnant with the 36-year-old’s child, according to police.
Key Takeaways:
- 16-year-old Zariah Dodd, who was 22 weeks pregnant, was shot and killed in Arizona.
- Jurrell Davis, 36, and Jechri James-Gillett, 18 have been charged for the crime.
- Dodd had previously told police that Davis raped her; she was reportedly pregnant with his child.
- Davis also faces more than 20 other charges related to sexual exploitation regarding a different minor.
The Details:
Jurrell Davis, 36, and Jechri James-Gillett, 18, have both been charged in the murder of 16-year-old Zariah Dodd, who was 22 weeks pregnant at the time of her death. Davis was alleged to be the father of Dodd’s preborn child, while James-Gillett was her current boyfriend. Dodd was found shot in the head on the morning of July 5 in a Phoenix park.
Dodd, who was living in a group home, reportedly told her caseworker in December 2024 that Davis had forced her to have sex with him by threatening her with a gun. A spokesperson with the Department of Child Safety told FOX10 that the caseworker notified police about the incident. Before her death, Dodd was supposed to speak with police about those allegations.
According to AZ Family, Dodd received permission from her case worker to go for a walk on the evening of July 4. While on her walk, she was picked up by the two men. Texts sent to a friend indicated that she was afraid, as she wrote, “We are literally driving in circles.” Her body was found hours later.
After the discovery of Dodd’s body, police traced the crime back to Davis and James-Gillett; James-Gillett later “made a full confession,” and told police that Davis had threatened to kill him if he didn’t shoot Dodd.
Both men are being charged with two counts of first-degree murder, with one count for Dodd’s preborn child.
“The investigation established that Davis was the father of Zariah’s unborn child. It also showed that the two suspects conspired to commit and carried out the homicide,” said Phoenix Police Sgt. Rob Scherer.
“They felt it necessary to take this 16-year-old’s life who had an unborn child,” Scherer said. “To be able to rationalize that being okay and then actually putting a plan together and executing that plan, it’s imperative that people like this are off the street.”
Since his arrest for Dodd’s murder, Davis has been served with at least 20 additional charges involving a separate 17-year-old girl, including 11 counts of sexual exploitation of a minor, three counts of luring a minor for sex exploitation, two counts of child enticement using an electronic device, four counts of sexual conduct with a minor and eight counts of disobeying or resisting an order of the court.
The Bottom Line:
According to ABC15, Davis has a track record of sexual abuse allegations dating all the way back to 2007, when he was accused of having sex with a 14-year-old girl while he was 19. At that time, he pled guilty to child abuse with sexual motivation and was sentenced to probation for 10 years.
A woman named Adrianne told ABC15 that the separate sexual exploitation charges Davis is facing have to do with her daughter. “I had been trying for over a year to get this man off the streets,” she said.
She is continuing to advocate on behalf of her daughter, Zariah Dodd, and any other victims he has impacted.
“I will continue speaking, saying their names…I will continue to be at every court appearance,” Adrianne said. “I don’t feel like he should ever see the light of day.”
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