Left: Richard David Simms Jr. (Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office). Right: Nicole L. Davis (Portland Police Dept.).
A 32-year-old man in Oregon faces a lengthy prison term for killing his former partner, shooting the 40-year-old woman to death while her family, including her two children, witnessed the tragic event.
On Tuesday, Multnomah County Circuit Court Judge Jenna Plank sentenced Richard D. Simms Jr. to 29 years in a state correctional facility for the 2023 murder of Nicole L. Davis, according to court records.
Simms received this sentence following his conviction on charges of first-degree manslaughter, unlawful use of a weapon, and possession of a firearm by a felon.
According to several news releases from the Portland Police Department, officers responded to a report around 4 p.m. on Nov. 22, 2023, about a shooting at an apartment complex in the 11100 block of Northeast Weidler Street in the Parkrose Heights neighborhood. Upon their arrival, first responders found an adult female, later identified as Davis, with apparent multiple gunshot wounds to her back. She was declared deceased at the scene.
The suspected shooter was quickly identified as Simms, who had fled the scene before police had even been called.
With the assistance of the U.S. Marshals Service, police units in March 2024 located Simms and took him into custody for killing Davis.
Prosecutors revealed that Simms and Davis had been in a relationship but were separated at the time of the incident after Simms had struck her in the face two days prior, leaving Davis with a black eye, as reported by Portland NBC affiliate KGW reported.
On the day of the shooting, Simms had visited the apartment and left but returned later because he was angry with Davis for letting several family members stay there for Thanksgiving.
When Simms came back to the apartment, he reportedly argued with Davis and several of her family members. At some point during the confrontation, Simms pulled out a handgun and aimed it at Davis, pulling the trigger several times, but the gun malfunctioned. As Davis began walking back into the apartment, Simms was able to get the gun working and fired three shots into her back, local CBS affiliate KOIN reported.
“Domestic violence is one of the most insidious crimes we confront because it usually occurs in the shadows of intimate relationships,” Multnomah County Senior Deputy District Attorney Glen Banfield said in a statement following the sentencing hearing. “This case, however, was among the most callous acts of indifference to human life I have ever witnessed — Ms. Davis was shot in the back in front of her own family, by a person who claimed to have loved her. It is a stark reminder of the devastation domestic violence brings, not only to the victims, but to their loved ones and our entire community.”
