Daughter pushing for maximum prison sentence for mother’s alleged murderer

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — The Metro Nashville Police Department (MNPD) responds to a domestic violence call every twenty minutes.

In 2022, the call was to Elois McCormick’s apartment. Inside, officers found her dead. Soon after, police arrested her boyfriend Jimmy Davidson Jr. and charged him with criminal homicide. The case could be going to trial soon.

“I wasn’t ready for that day, and somebody took that from me, to make me have to do that,” Latasha Johnson said, crying.

It was a day Johnson knew would come, but she couldn’t have imagined the circumstances around her mother’s death — or how soon it would come.

“We all fall short. Everybody makes mistakes,” Johnson said. “We’re human, but she was my mama. She died from strangulation and blunt force trauma to the head.”

McCormick was found unconscious inside her Jackson Street apartment. She had bruises on her face, neck and jaw. According to Metro police, Davidson went to General Hospital and told staff there that McCormick needed medical attention. Hospital staff called the police.

Two years later, the case has received traction inside the courtroom, but not without its challenges.

“Knowing that there’s a possibility he’s going to be free again, knowing that she’s not coming back, knowing that I got to make it every day without her. That’s hard,” Johnson said. “That’s a real hard pill to swallow.”

Johnson told News 2 that she found out Davidson is facing a second-degree murder charge. The District Attorney’s office explained that the charge carries a sentence of 15 to 25 years. The District Attorney has hoped that 100 percent of that gets handed down, but the defense counsel has countered by asking for just 15 years.

“There are people doing life for drugs and guns. This man took something from me that’s irreplaceable,” Johnson said.

Johnson has been following the case, step by step, and has kept in contact with the District Attorney’s Office. She has pushed for the maximum sentence. That’s something that, she said, is the least she could do for her mother.